A Panoramic View of the Future of Learning and the Role of Design(ers) in Such Experiences

Despite the evident success of current learning systems in Pre-K-12 education, higher education, and workforce training, it is increasingly clear that these systems have failed to keep pace with what we know about how and under what circumstances human beings learn. Learning systems are highly impervious to the kinds of systemic changes required for twenty-first century learners, including reliably learning and mastering new skills and knowledge on demand across their entire lifespans for both work and general success in life. At least five key areas must be worked on in an iterative and dynamic manner if we are going to make substantial progress in creating a sufficiently disruptive environment for learning to be substantially accelerated for ALL human learners in this new century. These five areas are: (1) the nature of learning across the human lifespan, (2) recent and emerging technologies, (3) assessment and evaluation, (4) transitions from the old systems to the new "system," and (5) sociocultural dimensions from a global perspective. I briefly outline each of these areas. Design(ers) can and must play many important roles in helping to move this agenda forward. An R & D effort of unprecedented proportions is proposed and preliminary steps outlined.