Re:tro-Grades, Education-Wise: The Old and the Knew

Failing In, Out of Fashion:  Trending, that is. evolving, along with revolving, as in "...society and the professional world continue to evolve and change with the growth of technology and the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution..." This, as Education as an institution tries to continue transforming, adapting, incorporating these changes after its inception as an industry of delivering essential information and skills to all students, as in "public education", which eventually became "compulsory"...ever since the First Industrial Revolution came to US here. So, what's new and what's falling out of fashion, and what can we borrow, as in "wisdom" from previous generations of learners and those who taught us, on behalf of those learners of the future? While this can't be honestly covered, as in "intellectual honesty", in one post, I as your host...

Hosting, education-wise: "You've got your heads in the clouds!" While this actually refers to daydreaming, a lack of proper attention (which I'll touch on in brief a bit later, so pay attention), here it 'technically' applies to "The Education Cloud"...your new type of host..."built for education" a new type of Apple brought to educators as a kind gesture, to sustain, inspire them as educators of the future, wherever they may be, whether "up close and personal" in the more traditionally envisioned classrooms, maybe now even "multi-graded" (as in the previously experienced "one room school house", one built more out of necessity)...to those who may be more...

Distanced, Learning: Those that reflect in part the "tech trends"...By the fall of 2017 (or about half a decade ago😒) and well before COVID-19 would make its mark on the current gen of learners, via "social distancing", several million students were enrolled in some type of distant learning. Which was highly accelerated, not necessarily celebrated, by necessity, during the more acute phase of the pandemic, with countless products (many 'hosts') and educational hybrids, taking students and educators alike, in and out of the brick and mortar. Other-wise, a word to the wise, as in "...for educators to properly engage their students, they must stay abreast of the latest changes and create effective learning environments..." (is this actually new; who knew?). Yep, being aware of the newest and best tech, hardware, as well as an appreciation for...

Soft Skills: As reflected in the "Future of Jobs" report (World Economic Forum, which brings US the hard truth, not being soft on education, or educators)..."Employers of tomorrow will be looking for personal attributes that influence how well you can work and effectively interact with others...making it easier to form relationships with people...create trust, dependability...lead teams..." In other words, "showing up is 90%" of success...don't be truant..." Along with, the other sixteen things from "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" (lessons that are not brand new but time tested, in fashion for future gens)..."In essence, they are essential...for success😊😕..." These as we collectively, more so depending on when we were born, started our formal schooling, are seeing a decline in...(stay with me here)...

Attention! Spans: Duh! As if that's news to teachers and parents...or appreciated in the least by current students who are other-wise occupied...In a recent study by Microsoft (who knows a bit about 'hosting'), since about 2000, when the mobile revolution really took off, mobilized, until about 2015...the average attention span went from about twelve to about eight seconds (about a 33.3333333....% decline if I did my math right) or, creatively stated by another commentator, "we've been reduced to that of a goldfish"😕. Which, in turn, by necessity, if modern schools of educators themselves are to remain effective, keep their students engaged will turn out...

Smart, Speakers: The ones that will not only appreciate the value of technology, as in 'smart speakers', but appreciate how attention span itself can be a convenient marker, a way to differentiate among generations of learners. That is, those who have bothered with studying the minutiae that various students may attend to at different rates, have gleaned that "Millennials" have the actual potential to pay attention longer than those from previous gens if content is highly engaging but in the "absence of interesting content they are the first to tune out the speaker..." (as if parents and teachers hadn't noticed this, how they are competing with social media, etc. etc. etc....) Yes, the decrease in attention spans, which has had an inverse effect, appreciation for...

Star Power!: Those that might be brought to the modern classroom, to increase engagement, via technology, of course, even in 3D, when all students might be found wearing their very own VR headset, selecting the star of their choice, to increase, sustain engagement, while the teacher increasingly finds themselves as simply a "Facilitator"...But one, if they do it right, align the stars appropriately, might actually continue to evolve as "...one who help students understand how to learn (critical thinking?)...to love learning, how to uncover and understand information they find..." Eureka; is there anything new here?! All this, along with an appreciation that learning, by definition, by design, and now by necessity, does not stop after "graduation"...

Life-Long Learning: That is, if current estimates (such as those from "jobs report", WEF) are correct, due largely to the technological explosion, due to an ever-increasing vector of automation, which ostensibly makes much of lives easier, "living the life of leisure" in the not-too-distant future anywhere from 35-50% of current jobs will give way to automation, including AI. So that those who graduated some time ago must re-invent themselves, re-engineer their skill, mindsets, not just through CEU's but update their skills via a variety of educational formats, to "...fit into and compete in a more modern world, a global economy..." And the educational institutions, if they are to exist, must appreciate they are in a highly competitive business themselves (ergo "Education Industry"): "...schools that allow students to remain connected with their alumni throughout their careers...to ensure they keep coming back to the school for the support they need...

Tale-Gate, Tale of the Gate: As in "Homecoming Tailgate!" the gift of fellowship, collegiate spirit that stays with us when we were forced to leave campus, the gift of education "that keeps on giving" and other-wise may ensures a giving alumnus, at least one who is willing to invest in the higher education of future gens...

"They ought to know" About hosting, educating hosts: as they, now known as "EHL", an educational institution, founded in 1893 in Lausanne, and "For over 125 years has pioneered the methods of Swiss hospitality..." Which was used as my 'source' for many of these trends, hopefully not miss-quoted...Put this institution of higher education which has devoted itself to teaching the science and art of hosting, hospitality, together with the lessons of those of the value of teamwork from the PTA (see October 17th and 19th for full appreciation) which was initially envisioned more locally (as in the U.S.) about four years later, and you have some lessons old, as well as a glimpse of what's to come: Trending, education-wise...who knew?