With New Film Series, the Learning Revolution Gets Televised
Learner-Centered Education is ready for its close-up . . .
By now, it’s safe to say we’re all on a first name basis with Siri, Apple’s digital assistant; after all, she’s been around since 2011.
Yet as 2024 rolls on, each day seems to bring another new name to know.
Perhaps you’ll form a relationship with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant “built for work and trained to be safe, accurate, and secure.”
The Muskians among us may opt for Grok, an artificial companion who promises “conversational AI for understanding the universe.”
And if it’s thoughtful tutoring you seek, a two-eyed thought bubble named Khanmigo is standing by to help (for just $4 a month).
Despite all the artificial innovations, however, scores of schools across the country are making a radically different choice:
Instead of dialing up the technology, they’re doubling down on the humanity.
In Ojai, California, children as young as five or as old as eighteen spend each day in a setting that’s designed to invite their active discovery -- from playing music to navigating a soldering station.
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, kids are using the entire city as their campus -- and designing projects that benefit the entire community.
And in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, teenagers are discovering who they are and why they matter -- with nary a virtual tutor in sight.
What do all of these schools have in common? They’re learner-centered. They’re relationship-rich. And now, thanks to a new short film series, they’re windows into an educational future that, amidst the ongoing digital revolution, is enticingly analog -- by design.
The films are the work of Education Reimagined, a DC-based organization seeking to catalyze the invention of a new public education system that, as they describe it, “honors and respects the uniqueness of each child.”
To get there from here, Education Reimagined wants to help people experience what learner-centered environments actually look like -- and require. The series features a diverse set of stories from across the United States, each of which illuminate what happens when the ultimate purpose of education stops being about transmission, and starts being about transformation.
“These stories capture the essence of what makes learner-centered education powerful,” said Lindsy Ogawa, Education Reimagined’s Senior Director of Practice and Field Advancement. “In these communities, people are galvanizing around a deep respect between young people and adults, a clear sense of belonging, and a willing recognition of the contributions everyone is capable of making. It’s a common thread that weaves together these vastly different learning environments -- and it’s the birthright of every child, everywhere.”
This message feels especially important now -- amidst the myriad tectonic shifts of the modern world. As historian and author Yuval Noah Harari put it, “When people think about ChatGPT and other new AI tools, they are often drawn to examples like school children using AI to write their essays. But this kind of question misses the big picture.”
Dennis Mortsensen, the founding former CEO of xAI (Grok’s creator), agrees. “For humans to survive the automation revolution,” he argues, “we need to double down on our humanity. Communication, emotional intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and cognitive flexibility will become the most sought-after abilities. To prepare for that future, we need to emphasize developing higher-order thinking and emotional skills.”
In the end, then, the future of learning may not be found on your laptop after all -- but in one another.
As veteran educator Stephanie Pace-Marshall puts it, “Reweaving the bonds of human connections and ensuring the sustainability of our planet are not possible within the current reductive, competitive and spirit-deforming paradigms. But a vibrant new story is emerging -- one in which we are all being invited to rediscover the essence of what makes us distinctly human.
“This is what it means to love the world enough to assume responsibility for it. This is what it means to love our children enough to prepare them to renew a common world.”