One of our focus areas is the futures of learning, and one thing you learn (and learn pretty quickly) as you dive into this vast area, is the sheer breadth of issues that individuals and groups from across the country are trying to grapple. And that is part of what makes the subject area both so challenging as well as interesting: it frankly is not easy or simple to "predict" the futures of either education or learning. As much as some forecasters or pundits find it easy to see the future in something like MOOCs or workforce trends, the tensions, struggles, and realities of change in education and learning make "the future" a set of images that constantly shift.
One fun post regarding the future of college education came from John Tierney at The Atlantic: "What Would an Ideal College Look Like? A Lot Like This." For everyone engaged in the ongoing debate over the futures of universities and college education, this is a fun one that seems to showcase a college that incorporates many of the elements that reformers and the disaffected call for.
A second piece to check out would be the panel discussion around Amanda Ripley's book The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way, on C-SPAN's Book TV. Ripley's book follows three American students abroad in the school systems of three countries: Finland, Poland, and South Korea. Interesting discussion, and another angle on the issue of comparing/contrasting American high school education vs. "successful" systems abroad.
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