Of all the sectors we track at Flux Trends, education is probably the most overdue for disruption.
State schooling as we know it today is still based on the Industrial model of turning raw materials (small children) into model citizens and workers; the kind of workers who would happily perform a rote task for an employer in exchange for a fixed salary, without asking too many questions. Poor incentives for both teachers and students have resulted in a schooling system, where even after 8 hours a day in school – for 13 years – students emerge practically unemployable, for all but the most menial jobs.
Higher education is not much better. The ROI on a university degree has plummeted over recent decades, as universities are producing a surplus of disillusioned graduates mis-matched with market demand; who find themselves saddled with crushing student debt that doesn’t seem to be justified by their real-world earning potential.
And that was all before COVID-19 came along…
Where did this all go so wrong? And what can we do to get things right again?
In this Flux Trends briefing, we take a good hard look at the future of education, and what learning could be if we stop focusing on certificates, and start focusing on useful skills and self-fulfilling personal development. Trends covered include:
- Surveillance schooling vs unschooling – two very different views of the future of education and humanity.
- Virtual and adaptive education – the risks and opportunities of using AI and VR to customise learning journeys.
- Who needs a degree anyway? – A look at the declining ROI of degrees, the alternatives on offer, and the paradigm shift required by organisations when it comes to recruiting talent.
- Science vs academia – the growing minefield of culture wars and factional splits within institutions and identity politics.
- What Gen Z thinks about the future of education (and why you should care).
- Future skills and careers – a futurists view of the T-shaped jobs of the future.
- Personal shares – how students are selling their futures to avoid taking on debt.
- Corporate universities and skills as currency – how learners of the future could be paid to learn.
This presentation is designed to inspire employers, employees, educators, students and parents to co-create a more functional and effective future of education.
Join us if you want to find out what the future of education will look like!
Presented by Bronwyn Williams
– Looking at Trends as Business Strategy –
If you are interested in booking this virtual trend briefing for your team or clients please contact Bethea Clayton on connected@fluxtrends.co.za or +27764539405.
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Image credit: Lucrezia Carnelos
