DOHA: A survey by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), the leading global initiative driving innovation and collaboration in education, predicts that education systems will undergo major changes by 2030.
It says schools will become interactive environments where innovations in technology and curricula will fundamentally transform the role of teachers and reshape the landscape of learning.
The survey reveals a strong consensus around the idea that innovation is an integral part of the future of education.
A resounding 93 percent of experts say they favour schools that implement innovative methods based on new teaching approaches and creative processes.
WISE yesterday revealed the results of the survey conducted among its global community of experts, and their perspectives on what schools will look like in 2030.
Five leading voices in education were also invited to comment on the results and give their analyses.
Are teachers obsolete? Will online content make traditional brick-and-mortar schools a thing of the past? Will there be one global education language? Should schools focus on personal skills rather than academic knowledge? Will company certification be on a par with diplomas? These are some of the issues tackled by the survey.
Experts from the WISE community predict that schools will evolve to become learning networks.
Online resources and technologies will support peer-to-peer networking, dialogue and exchange, facilitating a move towards collaborative learning.
According to the survey, almost half the experts (43 percent) believe that content will be provided predominantly by online platforms, while 29 percent ranked brick-and-mortar schools as the primary source of knowledge.
However, experts emphasise that innovation comes in many forms, not just technological.
About 75 percent of experts surveyed believe that the most valued assets in 2030 will be personal and interpersonal skills.
Only 42 percent think academic knowledge will continue to be valuable to learners.
Also 83 percent of experts believe that content will become more individualised, reflecting each student’s needs.
Another key finding supports the evolution of the teacher’s role towards being a learning facilitator rather than a lecturer.
The ‘2030 School Survey’ was conducted between June 3 and June 30 among 645 expert representatives of the global WISE community, which comprises more than 15,000 people.
The results have been released ahead of the 2014 WISE Summit from November 4 to 6 in Doha.
The Peninsula
