TEDxGR 2013: We need to 'rethink the entire concept of school,' says classroom futurist

GRAND RAPIDS, MI With your help, the classroom of the future could be right around the corner.

Thats the belief of classroom futurist Luis de la Fuente, who spoke Thursday, May 9 at the TEDxGrand Rapids event at the Civic Theatre in downtown Grand Rapids.

We will soon be able to rethink the entire concept of school, he said. Instead of groups of student moving through a curriculum in unison, each student will be able benefit from an experience that is unique, interactive and personal, and tailored to learning practices and needs.

De la Fuente leads The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundations efforts to transform todays classrooms into personalized learning environments that enable teaching with technology.

During his TED talk, de la Fuente said students today have shuffled in droves from class to class for decades, and if they absorb enough material, they are moved on en masse like widgets in an assembly line

Follow along with TEDxGR live at this link.

That education model is a relic in today's world, where kids are computer whizzes by the time they are 5, he said.

How we learn needs to keep pace with how we live, he said.

Todays teachers need to be counselors, disciplinarians, teachers all in one and we dont pay them enough for working inside a one-size-fits-all school model.

de la Fuente said personalized learning is the future of education, marked by differentiated instruction, freedom of pace, place, and engagement.

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TEDxGR 2013: We need to 'rethink the entire concept of school,' says classroom futurist