Modern learners are still ‘overwhelmed, distracted and impatient’ (Bersin by Deloitte). But, they are also hungry to learn and keen to grow their skills to the point that if an organisation isn’t enabling them to develop professionally, they’ll up and leave. That’s right, according to Fosway, learning and development opportunities are the #1 attraction to working somewhere, and can make or break employee retention and performance. But the learning and development opportunities have to be good.

PBL can be described as a multidisciplinary pedagogical approach to teaching and learning, and what it looks like in practice can vary from school to school, and the quality of a school’s PBL program can differ depending on how deep an educator might decide to dive into the theory, and their own imagination.

Something we’ve figured out is that online liberates us from the constraints of time, place and space. It’s no longer necessary to stick to the 9–5. Suddenly we find ourselves in events with many more people in attendance, from all over the world, than had it been physical. If we miss something it’s usually available as a recording surrounded by communities keen to engage and interact with you. What’s more, I’ve found it’s possible to sign up to multiple events running at the same time and then jump between them to hear the speakers I’m interested in. I’m unbundling the conferences and curating my own journey.

This has made me wonder about what an online “open school” could be.

There’s an oft-quoted saying that “to a man with a hammer, everything looks like nails.” But what if that man had a hammer, a screwdriver, and a wrench? Might he or she look to see if the flat top had a narrow slit, suggesting the use of a screwdriver? Or perhaps consider the shape of the flat top. Circle? Hexagon? Could a wrench be a more effective tool?  And finally, the mere addition of these tools can encourage a better understanding of a problem. 

….But what if they do lose a few points on the achievement tests currently in use in education… None of those tests predict with enough confidence much about the future life those kids will live. That is because it is not just the grades that kids get in school, nor their scores on tests of school knowledge, that predict success in college and in life. Soft skills, which develop as well during their hiatus from school as they do when they are in school, are excellent predictors of a child’s future success in life.