Pavel Luksha on Re-Engineering the Future

On April 2^nd’ Pavel Luksha, professor at the Moscow Skolkovo School of Management and Director of Re-Engineering Futures, led a stimulating tour through the next 5-30 years of the global technology landscape.

He defined the five major global challenges that require a search for a new model of education:

1.    Digital Technologies change models of knowledge creation, preservation and transmission, achievement recording and evaluation / assessment procedures, management of educational institutions, etc.

2.    Education technology start-ups offer potential to complement or replace traditional educational formats.

3.    Hyper-competition & the emergence of new industries demands super-fest education with maximum flexibility.

4.    Education as an asset which requires quality control and transparency of educational outcomes

5.    The challenges of consumer society  produces conflicting trends, one towards students with reduced motivation with fulfillment of basic needs, the other towards independent self-motivated learners.

These challenges will necessitate education to be re-defined in a life-long context. No longer will the traditional modes such as high school, college, etc., sequestered in a specific age group, but instead they will re-appear throughout an individual’s life-cycle.

Perceived contradictions between polarities in education are actually misleading. For example, the following matrix of educational extremes:

These polarities can be merged and integrated into a middle-group that overcomes seeming contradictions.

Looking far ahead, some of the trends that will inform the next 30 years include widespread gamification which will support both education as well as work-life and the social landscape; the use of neural interfaces which employ biometry to personalize learning experiences; and community-based learning which taps into our essential human social nature.

To listen and watch Dr Luksha’s presentation, please visit his xTalks page, with links to his report on Future Agendas for Global Education.