I recently came across an intriguing slideshow, Toward Society 3.0: A New Paradigm for 21^st century education. It wasn't just the term leapfrogging that jumped out at me, other terms such as knomads, mindware, and ambient computing caught my attention too. Not to mention slide 58 which some may deem offensive and inappropriate. But, me I liked the irony. The presentation offers a conceptual framework shift for education in the future.

The slideshow opens with, "The dot-zero-ization of everything has become the mullet of the 21^st century," accompanied by a nice mullet-adorned family photo. So, what's the next hair fad of the future?

Society (Web) 2.0, a cut-and-paste culture, according to John Moravec, is now giving way to Society 3.0, driven by accelerating change, continuing globalization, and innovation society fueled by knowmads.

Schools are providing a 1.0 education (built on the industrial era) to 3.0 kids, according to the presentation. The shift to Education 3.0, includes:

• Integrated activities where kids and adults partner
• Adults learning from kids
• Kids work at creative tasks
• Kids become innovators
• Technology is purposive

Here's a snapshot of Education 3.0, compared to 2.0 and 1.0

http://www.slideshare.net/moravec/toward-society-30-a-new-paradigm-for-21st-century-education-presentation?type=powerpoint

A few schools, here and there, are embracing a paradigm shift. One 21^st century high school is NYCiSchool, whose approach consists of:

• Work that is important and relevant
• Learning modules with interdisciplinary problem-based instruction
• Meaningful, real ways of learning
• Not a showplace for technology, but technology used when it makes sense
• Students learning from interacting with themselves, teachers, experts
• Technology extends learning experience
• Welcome outside tools into schools
• Mobility, collaboration in learning
• Online collaborative space - interact with teachers, field experts, parents, track progress
• Progress at own pace
• Students have own home page with course work so they can work from home or school
• Creating critical, creative, and logical thinkers

NYCiSchool sounds similar to Moravec's vision. So, how can this paradigm shift in education take place? One school at a time? One district at a time? Statewide? Countrywide? When education is facing dramatic budget cuts, is it practical to try to change the system and revitalize our learning institutions? It may not be practical, but in my opinion, it is critical.

Terms:

Knowmads: a nomadic knowledge worker - a creative, imaginative, and innovative person who can work with almost anybody, anytime, and anywhere.

Mindware: the importance of creative human capital - imagination, creativity, innovation.

Ambient education: schools located everywhere, from bowling alleys to our imaginations...everywhere!

Ambient awareness: socially distributed thinking.

Leapfrogging: leadership, using advanced purposive technologies to assist students and teachers.