Education for a Smarter Planet: The Future of Learning

Guidance to aid CIOs in strategic investment efforts The value of consumer IT, open platforms, and cloud computing in the future of education Practical examples of how enabling technologies are used today Redguides for Business Leaders 1 Introduction This IBM® Redguide™ publication is a supplement to the Future of Learning: Executive Insights Report. It provides an in-depth investigation into three enabling technologies and provides actionable guidance to aid CIO strategic and investment planning efforts. Specifically it discusses the value and role of consumer IT, open technologies, and cloud computing in the future of education. In addition, this guide provides real-world examples of the how these technologies work. Over the next decade, educational institutions will face significant change, transforming their relationships with students, teachers, and the workers of tomorrow. Signposts for the future are already visible, signaling significant changes to all segments of education as well as to their funders. These five signposts, which are technology immersion, personalized learning paths, knowledge skills, global integration, and economic alignment, are rapidly converging to produce a new and transformative paradigm that we call the educational continuum. This continuum dissolves the traditional boundaries between academic levels, education providers, and economic development initiatives to provide a single system for lifelong learning, skills development, and workforce training. To anticipate these challenges, educational and governmental leaders must urgently embark on a series of actions for transforming their educational institutions. CIOs will play a key role in this transformation. As presented in the Executive Insights Report Future of Learning: Enabling Economic Growth, governments and educational institutions must anticipate the needs of their constituents. They must read the signposts of emerging trends and, in response, develop strategies, programs and services to prepare the next generation for this future society. Signposts, which are indications of how events are likely to develop, provide insight for informing future programs and services. These signposts indicate transformational changes that will occur at traditional systems of education to support a continuum of education for the student of the future: Increasing technology literacy of students and technology integration into their everyday lives Evolving models for teaching and learning, allowing students to acquire skills that better prepare them for knowledge-based professions Improving interconnectivity of global resources which have eliminated traditional institutional boundaries allowing learning opportunities for new populations of youth and adult learners Table 1 Signposts and their relationship to the educational continuum The following key technologies underlie …