The Future of Learning Building a Convergent Future in K-12 and Higher Education
Today’s students require increasing levels of flexibility and resilience to succeed in the world—so how might our traditional education systems evolve accordingly? And, what makes an institution agile in the first place?
― Panelists Fiona Murray, CBE, Ph.D Professor of Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean for Innovation and Inclusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stefano Chinosi Director of Strategic Innovation, Andover Public Schools Jeanne Narum
We know that modern students succeed when they are empowered with practical skills and the opportunity to apply them in real-world situations. They benefit from inclusive and diverse environments that span digital and physical realms. In our everchanging, tech-forward world, educators and institutions have an opportunity to re-imagine their practices and provide equitable, affordable access to quality education.
Founding Principal, Learning Spaces Collaboratory
― Moderator David Damon Principal, Higher Education Perkins&Will
Taking a cross-sectional view of K-12 and Higher Education, we discuss how the continuum of learning has transformed and how educators can respond to these challenges.
Equity and Access Equity and access are in the forefront of society. There has been much more inclusivity, more permeability, fewer boundaries. More access to education, but we all know there is inequity across so many neighborhoods and lives. How has the classroom been impacted? Digital tools have been pushed forward with and without choice, but how can we use them to their fullest, and what innovations will we transition to and how?
The Great Leveler In Higher Education we spend some of our time doing research, and some of our time teaching. There are often not as many opportunities to actually learn from one another. So, there has been something very equalizing in many ways for faculty members across our educational community to truly collaborate about learning. Technology has been a great leveler too because we’ve all had to struggle through. Access Creates Opportunity A meaningful change has been about who has access to our classroom, who comes in. Technology has given us the opportunity to open up some boundaries and make our classroom a much more inclusive place and a place to have conversations. These digital tools have opened up at a moment of real crisis where the use of diversity and inclusion have become so salient. Partnerships Expand Platforms K-12 has experienced a transformative power in COVID. School partners in education have been adapting to bring experiences to students at home. This is one example of change that could stick around, and we should continue to offer that flexibility. The goal now is to leverage that collaborative spirit from the past year and a half and keep it going forward.
“ The digital tools have always been there but they haven’t been fully utilized until now — this will democratize access.” FIONA MURRAY MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
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Challenging the Role of Physical Space in the Context of Digital And what is next in the realm of imagining and assessing learning spaces?
The Need to Converge Technology With a Sense of Belonging The challenges of COVID generated many new questions on the importance of space. We are now recognizing the entire campus as a place for learning. Students are desperate to come back in person, but what kinds of environments do they need when they are together? How can we create a campus that promotes wellbeing and a sense of belonging and community? How can we leverage technology to continue to provide a personal experience and to encourage all types of learners? What Digital Cannot Recreate The pandemic reduced the boundaries between disciplines, and the physical boundaries on the academic campus. It brought in the need for more transparency and permeability. As learning has become more dynamic, the spaces in-between have a new emphasis — these are the spaces students want to inhabit because they are where serendipitous collisions occur. Virtual education has simply not been able to recreate this experience. The Pliability of Physical Space Redesigning the learning experience and spaces for learning is important in K-12. Our learning spaces need to catch up and become more dynamic similar to the virtual experience. We need spaces to do big things, to be multi-functional, and to have more opportunities for engagement – both indoor and outdoor. This has created new opportunities for all parties responsible for physical space to come together at ALL levels to discuss the issue of space together, to organize and optimize functionality, and to maximize the influence on learning.
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“ We might stop talking about learning spaces and rather, talk about spaces for learning.” JEANNE NARUM LEARNING SPACES COLLABORATORY
Synergies and Gaps Between K-12 and Higher Education K-12 and Higher Education were both pushed into the unknown during COVID. As we return to a new context, where are the synergies? Are they getting closer or is the gap getting wider? How are we responding to these impacts?
Synergy in the Act of Curation We are all emerging with a new appreciation for the learning curve, not just for the dissemination of our expertise. We are more aware that we are on a shared learning journey which is more visible to all of us. The one thing that will really bring us together will be the synergy in the act of curation in K12 and Higher Education — in both displaying it and engaging students. Student engagement has really been pushed by COVID — they had to learn how to drive their own learning. Rather than being a passenger, they had to behave as crew and push themselves to stay engaged in ways they didn’t have to in a more traditional in-person education model. Assessing the Gap
“ The one thing that will bring educators in K-12 and Higher Education together is learning how to curate our own shared knowledge.”
Assessment has a new role in this process. It’s not just about meeting the standards — it’s about removing the gaps. Active learning occurs through the art of teaching involving four lenses: time, place, path and pace. As we think about synergies between students’ engagement in active learning, and teachers involved in the act of curation, we should evaluate teaching and learning within these four big categories. Navigating individual learning and the path we choose for the entire class will have new responsibilities and benchmarks for everyone.
STEFANO CHINOSI ANDOVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Are There Opportunities for Reimagining the Overall Trajectory of Education? Do they exist in either in subject matter at an earlier age, or alternative paths in getting back to integrated time, place, path and pace? New Paths Will Emerge There is a lot of value in a 24-7 access if it’s curated properly. In K-12, parents and their kids have begun to work together to map a student’s educational experience with educators, whereas traditionally parents may not have been so involved. New paths will emerge for families and students to take that will connect both vocational experiences with University credits. One of the challenges will be — are students going to be able to find new ways of reflecting their competencies?
Final Thoughts
“We are now considering what we can do to all spaces on campus, in how many ways can they transform, how can every space on campus be used as an opportunity for learning. This is an energizing time for architects, and for students. We may look back and see this time in history as the emergence of a new kind of educational environment.”
FROM OUR PANELISTS
“We have realized that we need more welcoming and inclusive spaces supporting more diverse voices. Digital access will continue to be very important, as will the inclusive ‘in between’ spaces, such that all spaces may become collaborative learning spaces and not just transactional. This type of access and inclusion can merge K-12 and higher education communities together as these are the kinds of spaces where people want to come together.”
― JEANNE NARUM
“How do we maintain a sense of urgency around pushing developments of our professional practice, without the anxiety? There is a humbleness in educators becoming learners again. I hope this shakes us to respect learning again, and that our teaching and learning become more relational going forward.”
― FIONA MURRAY
― STEFANO CHINOSI
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Thank you, speakers!
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Fiona Murray, CBE, Ph.D is the Associate Dean of Innovation and Inclusion at the MIT Sloan School of Management, William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship and an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is also Faculty Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development and the co-director of MIT’s Innovation Initiative. She serves on the British Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology and has been awarded a CBE for her services to innovation and AY
entrepreneurship in the UK. Fiona is an international expert on the transformation of FIO N
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investments in scientific and technical innovation into innovation-based entrepreneurship that drives jobs, wealth creation, and regional prosperity.
Stefano Chinosi is an architect of experience and the Director of Strategic Innovation for the Andover Public Schools. He’s spent the last 24 years guiding students up mountains, down rivers, across Shakespeare, and beyond biodiesel. He believes that every child is gifted and talented and should become World-Ready, so he created “The Office of O
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Ingenuity,” an educational design lab based in Andover, Massachusetts open to all N
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schools and educators, to prove it.
Jeanne Narum is the founding principal of the Learning Spaces Collaboratory and of Project Kaleidoscope. The LSC is an informal national community of practice—engaging architects and academics—exploring, documenting, and promoting best practices in shaping environments in which learning is experienced. LSC’s planning template builds on PKAL’s approach. It is to begin with a vision of what learners are to become, have a diverse group around the planning table, pursue the right questions, and be aware of M
the changing context. Most important is to pursue a common vision of why spaces matter R
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from the perspective of the learner, the campus community of learners, and the world beyond the campus.
David Damon, a Higher Education Principal at Perkins&Will, moderated the discussion. David has come to conceptualize architecture as a physical framework in which everyone can feel welcomed and engaged. Since the 90s, he has helped colleges and universities transform their dorms into residence halls, repositioning a once-mundane project type into an active, mixed-use hub of student success. To him, each project is an opportunity N
to create a tailored solution that is specific to a campus’ culture and mission. David’s DAVI D
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evolving and inventive work has solidified his status as a recognized national leader on the forefront of student and residential life. 7
David Damon Principal, Practice Leader David.Damon@perkinswill.com +16174063481
225 Franklin Street Suite 1100 Boston, MA 02110