This workshop was performed as part of a boot camp event for start-ups in educational technology and included two groups with researchers and participants from these companies and from research institutions. In the first part of the workshop, that was based onbased on stock photos of the “future classroom”, one of the groups identified different pedagogical approaches or themes such as collaborative learning, different learning styles, the didactic affordances of the classroom setup. The other group sorted the images after technology including robotics, data driven technologies, holograms, virtual reality, digital tools for collaboration such as smartboards. They also discussed how these technologies allow for different kinds of student-teacher relationships where for example VR glasses prioritize individualized learning whereas holograms allow for a similar experience but also to share it with other people present in the classroom. One of the images show an astronaut floating in space and drawing on a blackboard which one of the participants interpreted as an illustration of how technology evolves at a much faster pace than society, which is visible not least within education.
In the more critical discussion about the images, the participants noted collaboration as a central theme. The groups agreed that collaboration and other “soft skills” such as problem solving and creativity are already part of contemporary Estonian curricula but will become even more important in the future with the increased automation of society. They further discussed motivation, deep learning, and transdisciplinary learning as central values for the future of education. However, although collaboration was visible in the images, the participants regarded them as too generic and lacking “real world examples” as well as representations of learning spaces outside the classroom and other “tech free environments”. Below follows a description of how each group visualized these ambitions in a map of the future classroom
A tech-free school enabled by technology
The first group used a question-based approach to describe their vision of the classroom of 2040. On the question where the classroom would be they envisioned a hybrid set up where the physical classroom is combined with virtual environments as well as outdoor learning. The role of technology is here to combine these spaces but also to enable more kinds of learning to take place outdoors through for example augmented reality. At the same time, the participants also believed in reducing technology and offering tech-free environments to improve the mental health and wellbeing of students. The opportunity to spend full days outdoors and less time in front of the computer will become “more important in the future to emphasize healthy living” as one participant explained.
Regarding who will be in the classroom in 2040 the group believed that teachers will still be around but as technology will develop, they will have more time to “do what they want and what is important” which is discussing and interacting with students. One such development that the group envisioned was AI bots who can help the teacher to “optimize the flow” in the classroom. This will make the teacher more efficient and ideally lead to smaller student groups. The groups also hoped that education will move away from linear learning into more interactive models of peer learning in smaller groups, which they illustrated in the map as crossed over lines (representing one-way knowledge transfer) and small circles (representing group work).
The core question why we need education has several answers. The participants brought up that one purpose is to take care of the children when their parents are working, but also suggested that this need might change in the future if the technological development makes it possible for people to work less. If parents can limit their work time to a few days a week, they can spend the rest of the week with their children and learn things together by spending time outside or in museums. The group also discussed a more direct impact by technology on education, namely that the rapid development of AI will render many much of what we value as important knowledge today useless. Based on this, one of the participants suggests that “the need for education is highly questionable in the future” and continues: “What I think will be the most valuable skill in the future is imagination, because with imagination, if the children see that the world can be different they can feed that to the AI which can help us change society”. Another participant in the groups agrees with this vision and adds that discussion and communication are equally as important skills that “won’t go away in 17 years or even in 700 years”.
The open classroom
The second group also envisioned an open classroom where learning can take place in school, at home, at a company, in the library or outdoors. The participants explained that this setup will enable individualized learning paths where those students who wants to go to school can do so every day, while students who learn better at home and should be given an opportunity to participate in the classes via VR technology or other technological means. The teacher has a central role in organizing the learning that takes place in these spaces but also to connect schools to the outside world. Instead of lecturing in front of the class they should be more like a mentor or a coach, “the bridge between companies, the real world and students” as one participant explained. The group explained that today there is a gap between school and university studies or work life and that teachers in the future should guide students more towards what comes after schools, which is illustrated in the map as a chain with the teacher as the “missing link” in the middle.
The open classroom also means getting rid of an age-based division of classes and instead organize groups based on interests and abilities. Younger children can learn from their older peers, but it also works the other way around, that older children can be inspired by younger classmates who tend to be more innovative. Instead of age-bases groups and fixed subjects, the group envisioned intersubjective learning based on real life problems that would give students more “mental freedom” that in contemporary education. If the learning is for the students and not a tool for selection, there is no need for test and exams suggests one of the participants. The main purpose of schools would instead be to take care of the children while the parents are working and helping the children developing social skills.
Summary and insights
- The future classroom should combine physical, virtual, and outdoor spaces to enable diverse learning experiences.
- AI and other emerging technologies should be used to reduce teachers administrative work and allow them to focus more on interaction and discussion with students in smaller groups.
- The necessity of traditional education can be questioned due to technological advancements, centering the importance of human abilities such as imagination, creativity and communication.
- Education can become more motivating and relevant by abandoning age-based classes for groups organized after interests and learning based on real-life problems.
- Schools should offer tech-free environments to enhance students’ mental health and well-being.