Personalized Learning & the Future of Work: Where Do We Go From Here?
In the years to come, students will enter a workforce that is in many ways more demanding and more complex than ever before. They will have to be able to solve complex problems, learn quickly from failure and make adjustments, analyze data in innovative ways, and show the ability to be predictive, rather than reactive. The move toward “personalized learning” in school districts–which is aimed at customizing education to students’ academic needs and personal interests--would seem to put students on the right track. But those efforts are running up against some serious challenges: lack of money, poor professional development, and a K-12 system that still has not figured out how to personalize learning when schools are still largely standardized. Will personalized learning prepare students for the labor market of tomorrow, or will it detract from academic programs and strategies that might better serve them? EdWeek Market Brief Executive Editor Kevin Bushweller tackles that question and examines how schools are likely to confront these challenges in the years ahead.
Kevin Bushweller (Executive Editor, EdWeek Market Brief)