Getting Back Better: Preparing Future-Ready Graduates

While highly disruptive from a health and economic perspective, the pandemic was the most profound technology adoption event we have ever experienced. If we went back to the start of 2020, I would never have believed that in just 12 months my six-year-old son and his 83-year-old grandparents would know how to video conference.

Rather than looking to get back to a pre-pandemic normal, we should be looking to move forward to a better place that leverages the best of our experiences during the pandemic. Technology can be a real enabler of a better future, and evidence-based approaches are needed to ensure that the benefits are shared by all members of our community.

Prior to the pandemic, one of the very real impediments to considering how technology could help in education, was the fact that not all students had devices or access so any tech-enabled solution would serve to widen opportunity gaps. We have a 3-5-year window to reimagine the role of technology in education before the devices and hotspots that were provided to those in need start reaching the end of their usable life.

How might we think about how more personalized learning experiences, broader teacher professional development, and virtual field trips can augment the classroom? How might we also think about preparing our students to graduate future-ready, prepared for careers in the 21st Century?

Graduates who choose to enter the workforce will find a more dynamic workplace with greater diversity of opinions and work styles. To provide the greatest likelihood of success, our students will need strong critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills. They also need to be technically literate, flexible, and lifelong learners. We need more project-based and interdisciplinary classes that model and develop skills for the 21st century.

Preparing “future-ready” graduates is more important than ever and will require our district to exhibit greater flexibility, embrace innovation and actively collaborate to share best practices and lessons learned amongst peer districts.