Since 2006, KnowledgeWorks has been engaged in a disciplined study of future forces affecting education, both to guide our own work and to offer a resource to help others in the world of education anticipate and prepare for change.

The 2020 Forecast has helped us see that education in the US is moving from a world of schooling to a world of learning – where efforts are focused on the needs of the learner, not the institution. Schools will still have a role in this world, but learners will access personalized content from multiple new sources. New networks will use collaboration, bottom-up processes, and shared resources to create new learner-centered curriculum and learning methods. New media will allow people to learn at any time, in any place. New brain research will facilitate the differentiation of learning experiences to meet distinct needs of learners.

Given this emphasis on learning, we are focusing on investments that will help people imagine and define the world of learning and encourage them to shift their mental models accordingly. Key investments that illustrate this focus are listed below.

New Tech Network A dramatic, scalable example of the learner-centered world, New Tech Network operates nationwide with schools, districts, and communities to develop innovative high schools. New Tech helps schools fundamentally rethink their approach to teaching and learning, empowering students to become the creators, leaders, and producers of tomorrow.
Institute for Creative Collaboration Recognizing that a new civic discourse about education is necessary, ICC works to build the capacity of organizations and groups to think, learn, and work together in new ways that support innovation and systemic transformation. The Institute can help you apply the 2020 Forecast in your context through strategic learning experiences, incorporating a whole system change approach as desired.
Strive Partnerships, transparency, and networks will be critical to building resilient school communities in the future. Strive brings together all the stakeholders in a community – both inside and outside the classroom – to ensure that children do not fall through the cracks but are instead fully supported from cradle to career.

Other KnowledgeWorks Actions

In conjunction with our first future forecast, the 2006-2016 Map of Future Forces Affecting Education, we collaborated with partners to develop a scenario planning process and a youth voices project. For current ways of applying the 2020 Forecast in your context, please contact our Institute for Creative Collaboration.