A Brochure Transforms My Thinking

I arrived at the Learning 2006 hotel at Disney World around noon on Sunday. I was planning to attend the Masie Consortium at 2:30 p.m. so I had some time to kill. Got registered for the conference and took myself to lunch.

For information about Map of Future Forces Affecting Education

I was going through the program and conference folder. In the binder was one brochure, a CD of conference sponsor materials and the Learning 2006 program. It had been a couple of years since I have attended a Masie event and I was struck by how things had chanced. It use to be that you got a suitcase full of materials, reference documents and sponsor literature. Now, all that stuff was compressed on to a CD. So I sat there at lunch a little curious with just two things to read, the brochure and the conference program. I picked up the brochure and started looking it over. Words on one side and a graphic on the other. I am a VISUAL LEARNER so I went right to the graphic and started a learning experience that has had a significant impact on my thinking!

The multiple levels and multiple forces on the map jumped out at me as I looked at the graphic. This was not a simple picture, but one that captured my curiosity. I ponder and I read, I pondered some more, I finished my lunch, pushed my salad plate to the side, spread out the brochure and pondered some more saying to myself, "this is really cool!" Here is some more information on the Forces Affecting Education if you want to explore yourself.

What was so interesting about the graphic was how it presented multiple layers of trends, issues and stakeholders. Our education model has been really a one size fits all model. When you spend a little time reviewing the graphic you realize that a linear model does not begin to address the issues facing education. As I was getting up from the table my mind was really engaged and I was very excited about this multi-level model. The brochure captured my thinking but did not provide one clear solution. I have gone back to that graphic a number of times. I have talked with friends about it. The information and the way it was presented has really engaged me. Dare to say I think I have shifted my thinking, maybe even learned something!

Below is some basic information about the graphic. If this really interests you best contact the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and order a hard copy of the map. You can look at it online on the website but the graphic is large ( 28" x 11" ) and you get the best full perspective with a hard copy of the brochure. Sometime in 2007 there will be an interactive web version of the graphic but it is not available yet.

The map is structured as a grid that presents the intersection between six key drivers of change—trends—and five critical impact areas. Taken together, their multiple intersections suggest an emerging future landscape of issues, concepts, and phenomena that will shape the broader context for education and its stakeholders. Consider the map a guide to a future landscape rather than a comprehensive representation of a definitive future.

2006 – 2016 Core Drivers of Change
Six driving forces of change form the core of the map forecast. These major trends form the vertical column on the left side of the map:

• Grassroots Economics
  
• Smart Networking
  
• Strong Opinions, Strongly Held
  
• Sick Herd
  
• Urban Wilderness
  
• The End of Cyberspace
  

The five critical impact areas form the horizontal columns on the top of the map and include:

• Family and Community
• Markets
• Institutions
• Educators and Learning
• Tools and Practice

The graphic is populated with elements across these columns and rows. The elements include Trends, Hotspots and Dilemmas.