A+Design+That+Multitasks

By Rachel Hurst // Carrying education and reform into 2025 and the future will be about creating new modes of learning through a meta-disciplinary approach that changes with the demands of careers and the new technologies that burgeon on the horizon. Technology is not the teacher so much as the vehicle; this is not outmoding education as a field so much as giving it a new set of tools to better synergize the flow of learning and the core concepts that come with it. // Education should change to better inspire and prepare students; the reforms in place are not a cap to repair the current state of education so much as a bridge to higher levels of reform that sustain the vision of a practical, multmodal form of instruction that reflects new learning theories such as connectivism and social constructivism - both of which reflect the rise of the Internet and technology for creating and sharing information on a level not known by previous generations.

Creating a design that multitasks requires:

**Collaboration** - **with other classes and even among students within the same room**. Team-focused, project-based learning reflects the way that scientists and professionals interact and share ideas in the workforce. It also makes use of the diverse strengths and experiences of class participants which are not fully used in older models of education that cater to auditory learners and focus so heavily on quantitative and verbal reasoning skills as signs of mastery.

**Integration of disciplines at an even higher level.** Consider using robotics to teach marine biology (right) or having students simulate adult research methods by creating a set of criteria for human research, designing their own data collection tool (a simulation, a web poll, etc) - and tie in mathematics and literacy by having them calculate standard deviation and statistics on their own, combining everything into a journalistic report that emulates technical writing at a level which - under Common Core Standards - reflects their grade-level reading materials elsewhere.

**Boosting student involvement through practical, hands-on learning** that reflects building their own models and solutions - combining disciplines as in the "Migrating Robot" lesson unit. This works through situated and project-based learning that simulates real-world scenarios and involves constructing one's own findings into a statement that adds to the body of knowledge already in existence in the field and within one's group of learners.

**Changing assessments to reflect the skills that are truly important for college and job readiness** Assessment reform was begun under the Common Core initiative, though the content of the new standardized tests will not be released until later. If it holds up to the new curricular demands of the common state standards, we can expect a higher level of technical literacy that previously was only seen in the verbal reasoning section, but not in science or mathematics.

**A building that welcomes more time spent in school as part of a community**, particularly as education and career-readiness become higher priorities. While not every student will continue to attend school in a brick-and-mortar setting, those that do need a multifaceted design that welcomes a variety of instructional techniques and forms of communication. Wide, communal areas encourage interaction and will lead to the kinds of design elements typically seen now in state-of-the-art, liberal arts colleges.

Images, clockwise, starting at top left: Ortiz, 2009; Architechic, 2011; USDA.gov, 2011; Bates, 2010. ||
 * [[image:mod1.png width="336" height="252" align="center"]] || [[image:mod2.png width="335" height="252" align="center"]] ||
 * [[image:mod3.png width="335" height="252" align="center"]] || [[image:mod4.png width="335" height="252" align="center"]] ||
 * From a slideshow by Hurst (2011).

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