Education Innovation for Generation Next

We face a dilemma in America, and more specifically in the rural state of West Virginia: How do we successfully shift a massive education system designed to equip farm kids with basic skills to enter factory jobs during the Industrial Revolution, and turn it into a nimble, flexible, cost-effective, innovative learning environment that equips both kids and adults with 21st century learning skills?

Recent education reform in West Virginia is just the beginning. Much bolder moves must be made to shake West Virginia out of its bottom-level education rankings. Beyond that, West Virginians must learn to aim for leadership in education, not just climbing out of the bottom. To achieve this, we must allow ourselves permission to think in ways that could set the stage for how rural cultures around the world learn and thrive.

What if rural children learned in creative ways during the two hours each day they spend on a bus?

What if e-learning centers could help reverse the need to even put those kids on a bus for two hours?

What if the entire community was involved in ongoing learning along with the kids?

What if West Virginia children gained access to building relationships with other kids from around the world on a regular basis?

What if we spent less time testing children on memorized facts and more on assessing their ability to think and act creatively with problem-solving and research skills?

What if the teaching profession became one of the highest-paid, most skilled and widely respected professional roles in our society?

Of course, we like to explore best practices developing elsewhere, but wouldn’t be great if we become the source of best practices?