Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Future

A while ago, a reporter from the Times of India called to interview me. She asked: “Is developing an entrepreneurial spirit important for schools to engage in; and if so, why?” Here’s what I said: “Absolutely. An entrepreneurial spirit is a critical objective of a relevant education today.” I then went on to share much of what I think about this issue. Here are those thoughts:

The world awaiting our children is evolving at an exponential rate. They will have to have the skills necessary to solve problems that do not yet exist, and work in (or create) jobs that have yet to be defined. The challenges they will face will require uniquely innovative solutions on an individual as well as a mass, global scale. The success of these solutions will be dependent on the spirit of entrepreneurship present in the problem-solvers, and problem finders, their ability to ‘design and systems-think’, and the depth of their skills to collaborate, think critically, and be truly creativity (to start with).

Schools MUST help build entrepreneurial thinkers and doers. Our curricula needs to leverage the ‘sweet-spot’ between the ‘important and still-relevant content’ and the ‘essential skills for the 21st century.’ We prepare our students for a future they themselves will create. The future, regardless of what it will be, will need people grounded in and equipped with an ethos of, and a tool-box loaded with entrepreneurship.

And speaking of the need for our students to develop an entrepreneurial spirit, think about this: By 2025 every student, currently attending ASB, will have (theoretically) graduated from high school. What will be waiting for them after high school? Well, according to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Professor of Education and Economics, the colleges that will be waiting for them will be almost entirely virtual. He predicts that 50% of all U.S universities will have gone bankrupt by 2023. Michael Horn, another educational futurist, has the number a little more optimistic, putting it at 25%. But that’s really the least interesting or surprising thing their research says. It also says:

  • The pursuit of a college degree will begin while students are still in high school. It already has.
  • Students will take some courses on a traditional campus, and an equal mix of online courses, flipped, or blended courses, often starting at the age of 12.
  • With access to free or discounted online courses, most introductory college courses will be obsolete.
  • College degrees will be faster, cheaper, and more customizable.
  • Universities will specialize and merge to provide services.
  • Students will take command of their learning experience, and begin to ‘map’ their needs with artificially intelligent adaptive learning software.

All this (and so much more that we already know) begs the question, then: In a future where at least a quarter of universities may not even exist, and the rest have significantly evolved in what they expect from incoming students and in what they deliver…what are the whys, wheres, whos, whats, and hows of a K-12 education?

For the entire article see: http://www.ecampusnews.com/online-learning/evolution-students-college-005/

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