Omnivorous Learning

The Learning Mode: Critical Issues in Online Education at UC Berkeley March 15-16, 2013 squarely addressed the future of learning. Most obvious from this examination of the future of learning is that the same transition is underway that has happened in many other industries such as music, publishing, and personal communications, and is still wanting in public health. The effect of technology on the industry is to enable more categories of participation to be defined and a wider spectrum of outcomes to be achieved. Overall this points to an inherently democratizing and empowering influence of technology.

Another theme (as discussed in the book Why School?) is that education systems were developed in a different era when teachers, knowledge, and information were scarce, and that is no longer the case. There are many more choices for self, expert-based, and peer-based learning, in real-time on-demand and time-shifted venues. MOOC (massive open online course) platforms like Coursera, Udacity, edX, and Class Central (a MOOC aggregator) have been growing and adding credentialing and course curation functionality. Other learning tools include podcasts, Khan Academy and YouTube videos, and Lumosity’s cognitive performance brain trainer.

A third theme is that the value chain for learning is becoming more granularly stratified. Learners are of all ages and backgrounds and have diverse educational objectives with are being supported with a variety of in-person, online, and mobile instruction tools.