Education is about helping students identify, ignite and develop their passions. When we can do that on a consistent basis, students will remember and learn. – Sir Ken Robinson.

The 21st century is about embracing change, not fighting it. The education environment is undergoing a learning revolution with educational reforms occurring both nationally and internationally and often with change comes a good deal of fear for the future. Added to the educational change, we are attempting to fit the changes and developments in the technological environment, both hardware and software into the educational mix, as research is indicating that with the appropriate use of technology great strides in learning can be made.

Embracing Change

Embracing change means looking forward to what will come next. It means viewing the future as a set of new possibilities, rather than something that forces us to adjust. It means making the most of living in a world of constant motion. We can no longer count on being taught or trained to handle each new change in our field, the media or the ways we communicate on a case-by-case basis.

Embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us to stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us.

In a world of near-constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change, rather than a way for growing out of it. In this new culture of learning, the bad news is that we rarely reach any final answers, but the good news is that we get to play again, and we may even find more satisfaction in continuing the search for answers.

Information Overload…

The world abounds with information on almost every topic imaginable; we need to assist our children to play with information and to analyse what they are reading. Reading played a critical part in our learning experience and often the ability to read early was a good indicator of future success. This remains the same in the new world of learning. However, children today have a far greater variety of sources to read from and added to this are the electronic media available to our children. As parents and teachers, we need to assist our children to “play” with information, create answers and solutions to problems we develop together. Reading and discussing what we read forms an integral and critical part of our children’s learning experience. Play with information with your children in different ways and you will be ensuring far greater success in their learning journey.

The new culture of learning – the point is to embrace what we do not know, come up with better ideas and questions about it and continue asking questions in order to learn more, both incrementally and exponentially. – Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown.