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The Open University

Looking globally: the future of education

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

The next generation will need many different skills to those we can easily imagine today. Young people will need to be able to learn quickly and efficiently, to think critically and dismiss fake facts, and to offer creative solutions for problems that no-one has yet considered. With this in mind, we will explore three big themes that are challenging the world itself and therefore education:  the environment, demographic changes and the impact of technological advances. The key question is: is education fit for this future?You will be invited to look to the future and to reflect on the past and learn from it. Think with us about what we can do as educationalists to support young people to meet the challenges ahead. On this free course you will be able to enhance your learning by collaborating and interacting with others online.Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation - which also displays your Open University badge.Completing this course and gaining the badge will count towards part of the first assessment of the Open University Masters module EE830 Educating the next generation.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey  565. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey  666. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.

Syllabus

  • Introduction and guidance
  • Introduction
  • Learning objectives
  • Who is this course for?
  • What is a badged course?
  • How do I achieve a badge for this course?
  • Moving around the course
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week1Week 1: Is education fit for the future?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 Is education fit for purpose?
  • 2 Global drivers for change
  • 3 Issues facing education
  • 4 Summary: What needs to change?
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week2Week 2: Why do we educate?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 The purpose of education
  • 2 Three models for education
  • 3 The human capital model
  • 4 The rights-based model
  • 5 The capabilities model
  • 6 Considering all three models together
  • 7 Week 2 quiz
  • 8 Summary
  • The nine quotations
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week3Week 3: How do environmental drivers affect the possible purposes for education?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 Do we need to respond to environmental changes?
  • 2 What evidence is there about environmental issues?
  • 3 What is education for a sustainable future?
  • 4 Reflecting on alternative views
  • 5 Summary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week4Week 4: How do demographic challenges affect the possible purposes for education?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 Demographic change
  • 2 Population growth
  • 3 Summary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week5Week 5: How will new technologies challenge ideas of education?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 The impact of technology on all our lives
  • 2 What do we mean when we talk about automation?
  • 3 Automation and education
  • 4 Educating for a technological future
  • 5 Week 5 quiz
  • 6 Summary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week6Week 6: How should education respond to the challenges of the future?
  • Introduction
  • Aims and activities
  • 1 Thinking critically about the human capital model
  • 2 Thinking critically about the rights-based model
  • 3 Thinking critically about the capabilities model for education
  • 4 What needs to change?
  • 5 Summary
  • Tell us what you think
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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