Knowledge in a time of crisis
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Foresight is 2020. Let’s talk about the future of learning.

When the COVID-19 crisis is over, how will education have changed? Will we have made the most of this moment?

Photo: metamorworks / Shutterstock
  • Today is the launch of The Future of Learning, a series by Z-17 Collective in collaboration with Big Think.
  • Over the next several weeks, we will be releasing interviews and articles with education thought leaders, examining how the coronavirus era will forever change the way we teach and learn.
  • How can we future-proof our schools so that they better serve our children and our communities?
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Charles Koch Foundation
Charles Koch Foundation

American education: It’s colleges, not college students, that are failing

Who is to blame for the U.S.'s dismal college graduation rate? "Radical" educator Dennis Littky has a hunch.

Image: educationdata.org

Percentage of college student dropouts by age at enrollment: 2-year and 4-year institutions

Sponsored by Charles Koch Foundation
  • COVID-19 has magnified the challenges that underserved communities face with regard to higher education, such as widening social inequality and sky-high tuition.
  • At College Unbound, where I am president, we get to know students individually to understand what motivates them, so they can build a curriculum based on goals they want to achieve.
  • My teaching mantra: Everything is permitted during COVID-19. Everything is permitted during COVID-19. Everything is permitted during COVID-19.
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Hyper-innovation: COVID-19 will forever change the way we teach kids

The institutional barriers that have often held creative teaching back are being knocked down by the coronavirus era.

  • Long-held structures in the education system, like classroom confines and schedules, have held back innovation for a long time, says education leader Richard Culatta.
  • In the coronavirus era, we have been able to shake some of those rigid structures loose, making way for creativity and, ultimately, a more open mindset.
  • When creativity and technology combine, learning can become so much more than delivering content to a student. Culatta gives two stunning examples: one of a biotech class, and another involving a student discovering a star.
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