[RE]LEARN 2020 - The Learning Innovation Festival

Even before COVID, the education system was broken. A framework built to serve the era of the Industrial Revolution has proven itself woefully inadequate in preparing people for the real world of work and life in the explosion of the Tech Revolution. This spring, when COVID-19 ground the wheels of the educational establishment to a halt, the failures and limitations of the school system were thrown into the spotlight and people who had never previously considered alternatives started asking, "Is there a better way?"

This session, intended for adult learners, parents, and educators, will challenge the historical status quo of education, and our current system of mass schooling, before asking attendees to think bigger about what is possible in the modern era. Including a re-examination of the purpose of education and our goals, the path we take to achieve them, and real-world assessment.

Participants will leave the session with a clear vision for the third path that lies between the industrial model of education and the limitations of traditional “homeschooling” with a vision for the future in which purpose driven learning is happening everywhere, and all the time; in the real world and in preparation for the world that we are co-creating.

To get there, we’ll break down a short history of western education, why it was built and why it worked. (Hint: this is directly linked to what’s not working now!) We’ll examine the changes in the ‘real world’ and the ways in which education has failed to keep up. (Gen X learned this mid-career, the Millennials have lived it). In a solutions oriented wrap up we’ll examine the ways in which technology has democratized education and what that means for the future of learning.

Action oriented take aways include tools for students everywhere to reclaim control of their educations for their own purposes. For adult learners, this might mean a self-forged path to career change or re-focus in the post-COVID work world. (Do you really need a degree or certificate for that?) For parents, this might mean stepping into the driver’s seat of their children’s educations and co-creating unique paths that support the passions and purposes unique to each child. (Who says you’re not qualified to chart a course for your own child?) For educators, this might mean shifting paradigm and practice away from the “tried and true” (are they really?) models of education and helping to reimagine modern, real world educational structures. The sooner the better.