NSF’s “Discoveries”
The National Science Foundation’s “Discoveries” web page features a number of articles on scientific discoveries and advancements that have implications for the future.
“NSF’s public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more… a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.”
Transforming the 20th Century Mind
In his article “Transforming the 20th Century Mind,” Rick Smyre, founder of the organization Communities of the Future, argues for the development of a different set of thinking skills to meet the demands of the 21st century. His focus is on the role of education, particularly that of higher education. He sees the need for the creation of future institutes and the integration of future oriented courses in education, with the community college as a particularly appropriate environment for this initiative.
Here are some highlights from the article:
We teach achievement, content, outcomes, and results. The way we are taught to learn imbues us with the assumption that outcomes and actions are the most important factors. As a result, when we evaluate learning, we test content and knowledge. Why? So that we can get on with it, so that we can do something, so that we can achieve.
Our educational system doesn’t emphasize conceptual thinking, knowing “why” things work, and knowing how to ask appropriate questions. Within the recent past we haven’t put a premium on ideas. We haven’t seen “talking about concepts” as a good use of time. So we hold underlying assumptions constant and seek improvement in what we do. We just decide to speed things us and make them more efficient.
Such “thinking” has led us to set standards, to get to the bottom line quickly. The premium has been on doing, not thinking…
the most important question – how do we introduce into educational curricula the need to think about the impact of future trends as well as transforming underlying assumptions? How can schools, community colleges, and universities begin to create a learning environment so that issues are considered within an evolving “futures context?”
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Present curricula are usually based on standard answers. Our society is increasingly fast-paced, interdependent and complex. As a result, a problem exists in how to adjust to prepare a different kind of learning experience which will prepare learners to think differently and build skills of innovation for a constantly changing society. Therefore, a concept of focusing on the future within a context of a transformation would allow new ideas to “appear” as generative dialogue occurs.
What is needed is a separate and parallel structure which can be attached to existing educational structures to think about future trends, but remain autonomous. Such a “futures institute” could be established to provide community research and development and allow new trends and knowledge to “appear” in the thinking and operations of educational institutions and local communities.
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Although any educational institution can establish a “futures institute,” there is no better place to position one than at a local community college. Not only is there potential to prepare existing students to utilize a futures focus and to think differently, but there exists the opportunity to introduce 21st century ideas into the thinking and operations of organizations in the local community.
Local community colleges can establish new structures and outreach efforts more easily than public schools and universities as a result of their mission.
There are several approaches that any community college can take when creating a curricula for a “futures institute:”
- Establish a day of “futures orientation” where all students
are introduced to future trends of all types.- Develop a set of “futures modules” for all areas of
knowledge. Utilize these modules in many different ways,
both within the structure of the curricula, as well as for
community seminars.- Create a series of courses that can be utilized any quarter or semester
The world of 2020 and beyond
“No-one can predict the future, but perhaps the most authoritative and authentic description of the future comes from interviews with the world’s leading scientists. I have interviewed the 150 top scientists who are inventing the future, in three areas: life, the mind, and matter, which are the three pillars of science.”
—Michael Kaku
Michio Kaku, professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York offers these thoughts on the future from his 2005 conference presentation posted on The Futures Foundation web site.
World Future Society 2010 Conference in Boston
The WFS 2010 conference, “Sustainable Futures, Strategies, and Technologies” will be held in Boston, July 8-10. Usually they offer a choice of one day workshops prior to the conference proper. There are typically a number of educationally focused presentations and workshops. Registration fee discounts are available for members, early bird registrants, students, and those over 65.
The World Future Society is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S., founded in 1966. The Society investigates how social, economic and technological developments are shaping the future. It helps individuals, organizations, and communities observe, understand and respond to social change appropriately and investigates the benign effects of applying anticipatory thinking to society.
Through its magazine The Futurist, media, meetings, and dialogue among its members, it raises awareness of change and encourages development of creative solutions. The Society takes no official position on what the future may or should be like. Instead it provides a neutral forum for exploring possible, probable, and preferable futures. —-Wikipedia .
Institute for the Future
The Institute for the Future at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland “encourages engaged learning, actively pursuing foresight and future thinking through applied and experiential learning.” Built around their course “Exploring the Future,” the Institute promotes the integration of future thinking across the campus and throughout their community. In addition, their web site provides a variety of resources for schools and individual educators that wish to enhance their students ability to prepare for the 21st century.
