What If?: July Recap

If you missed the campaign announcement, feel free to read more about the backstory here and sign up for the newsletter to make sure you never miss a question! We look at these questions as a way to inspire change and thought about the future of learning and to get an idea of what you’re wondering about, what you’re thinking about and more. If any of these questions inspire you to write, feel free to email [email protected] with your thoughts or a blog submission.

Another month of What If? questions has passed. This month we were really interested in framing the learner experience — asking about portable records, reframing learning, what happens when a learner graduates and more. We loved the answers we saw, but would like to hear from even more of you!

Here are a few of the questions we asked over the last month:

What if alumni networks were lifelong learning networks?

Classmates for life + graduation at any level would never be the end of anything; rather, it would be the formal welcome into the learning network celebrating one’s readiness not only to learn, but also to now teach one’s peers…#GSWhatIf https://t.co/vApsZAjsNa

— Dr. Patricia L. Hanna (@profe_hanna) June 22, 2021

What if learners had a record of the factors that motivated them to learn?

This question was inspired by our recent 20 Invention Opportunites in Learning and Development Report and you can read a blog on the subject here.

What if all learning was framed as social and emotional?

This question was provided by our friends at Socrates – Head of School in their distillation of All Learning is Social and Emotional.

What if every high school graduate had already experienced success in work?

If every high school grad had already experienced success in work, they would realize their strengths & interests, how relevant education is or could be moving forward, the importance of lifelong learning & more opportunities for the present & planning for the future. #GSWhatIf

— Dr. Patricia Griffin ❤️🧠💡 #HEARTMINDZONE (@Drgriffin216) July 7, 2021

What if every high school grad had a mentor as they either entered college or the workforce? #GSWhatIf #Education #worldsbestworkforce

— Gloriann Heikes (@MrsHeikes) July 7, 2021

We also got some “What if?” questions from some of our friends! One of favorites is below:

What if our traditional school-year cycle of “compliance work” became a continuum of questioning and discovery?” #GSWhatIf @Getting_Smart

— Carrie Pratt (Mathes), Ed.D., CETL (@CarriePrattEdD1) June 9, 2021

 Thanks for following along with these questions! Please let us know which ones stuck out to you and which ones you’re still thinking about AND be sure to sign up for the newsletter so you can catch all the questions.