Schools must adapt to innovative changes

Teaching techniques in schools must adapt as new information technologies are introduced and their impact on society is better understood

It’s “back to the future” in education today.

Following in the big footsteps of the 19th century educational pioneers who worked to create public schools fit for the new, disruptive Industrial Age, America’s most visionary educational leaders are striving to revitalize America’s public schools for our new globalized, disruptive Information Age.

Charter public schools are, of course, an innovative approach at the very forefront of these efforts. Yet charter schools today account for just about 6 percent of all public schools. Those who are quick to criticize charter schools seem to forget that they are still a relatively new model of public schooling — only about 25 years old.

And precisely because charter schools are, inherently, so much more flexible than traditional public schools, they are that much more capable of learning well from failures of the past — by adapting new techniques to create successes in the future.  That is an attribute that will likely grow in importance in the years ahead.

The job market of the Information Age will increasingly demand critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility, and the capacity to adjust and adapt to change.  Our schools will need the same characteristics — because the Information Age’s digital technology may be affecting learning, or the lack thereof, in unexpected ways.

(Next page: Studies say technologies reduce attention span)