Serendipity35

To say you have an answer to the question  "What is the future of teaching and learning?" is a brave, or foolish, thing to do. So, let me start by saying that I don't have an answer of my own, but I will pass along and comment a bit on the three trends proposed by Steve Ferrara. 

He turned down an invitation to give the keynote address at an event in Nigeria (in order to be home for the birth of his grandson - good for you, Steve). His talk would have addressed the theme for the event - Next Generation Teaching and Learning, the Future of Learning. Steve runs Pearson’s Research & Innovation Network, the Center for NextGen Learning & Assessment.

Here are his 3 trends he thinks will shape the future of teaching and learning. All of them are things that have been shaping T&L already, but he sees greater impact from them in the future.

1) Teaching and learning processes will be based on learning science. 

2) Teaching will become more student-centered.

3) Higher order thinking skills, or 21st century skills, will be explicit parts of curriculum.

Thinking about #2, I would start by saying (as Ferrara does) that the idea of a teacher as a coach rather than a lecturer has been around for at least 20 years. As teachers spend class time talking in front of the classroom, they spend more time working individually with students who are also more independent. Textbooks online, learning sites, learning games, MOOCs and other tools allows teachers to be more like that "guide on the side."

I hope that Steve is correct in predicting that assessment via technology will be more naturally "embedded in teaching and learning and not added on and separate from those processes."