Five Educational Trends for the Next Decade

• Micro-learning: The availability of knowledge accessible in the real world and at any time creates the conditions for learning that is easy, lightweight, and done in context when a person really wants or needs to learn.
• Rich ecology of content and resources: We are seeing the democratization of content, with high quality resources being produced by individuals and groups outside of any institutional framework.
• Community as a driver: Learning is (and has always been) about participating in a conversation, with people that matter to us. Increasingly, schools will need to be asking the question: how can we create social settings that encourage the right kinds of conversations?
• Teachers as social designers: With content cheap and available everywhere, the role of the teacher as the orchestrator of learning communities comes to the fore.
• Non-grade rewards: We have known for some time that grades replace intrinsic rewards with extrinsic, taking pleasure and self-direction out of learning. Ideas for different models of reward are coming from unexpected places, such as gaming, where the concept of leveling up produces a new and engaging dynamic.

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