Running head: UNDERSTANDING ELEMENTS AND IMPACT OF LEARNING
Understanding Elements and Impact of Learning
Peter M. Manwell
CUR/516
7/28/2015
Dr. Shirley Burnett
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Running head: UNDERSTANDING ELEMENTS AND IMPACT OF LEARNING
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Introduction
Possibly the largest shift in curriculum development in the next ten years will be the
continuing immigration and development of the Third World. Changing economic and
demographic factors in the Third World are continuing to evolve academically and economically
on two major fronts: population immigration to industrialized nations and indigenous
populations continuing to develop in-place. I will discuss how curriculum development will be
influenced, in the immediate future, to accommodate multi-lingual/multi-cultural student
populations in the industrialized nations and how curriculum will be influenced in the Third
World (with a focus on Asia) to support workforce development.
What instructional modalities and settings will we see in the next 10 years?
Primary, secondary and tertiary public education will start to see a shift across the
Industrialized and Third World over the next ten years from workforce preparation to talent
management. Curriculum for public education in modern times has historically supported the
development of a literate workforce, supported by legislation such as the No Child Left Behind
Act. In the next ten years we will see a shift to curriculum that accommodates the diversity of
multi-lingual/multi-cultural student populations away from workforce preparation to capitalize
on developing the unique talent of individuals.
Curriculum development for multi-lingual/multi-cultural student populations. Curriculum
has not kept up with the science for delivering content to multi-lingual/multi-cultural student
populations in primary and secondary grades.
“Teaching to achieve passing standards of learning evaluations has limited real
learning of multi-lingual/multi-cultural student population on many levels. Elementary
students face annual testing in Grades 4 to 8 and the practice of elementary teaching has
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actually become less diverse and more homogeneous as teachers across the country
implement a prescribed, test-preparation curriculum to ensure that students make
adequate yearly progress (AYP). Thus, at a time when the field knows so much more
about how to engage diverse youngsters in rich, meaningful curriculum that builds on
their strengths and capacities, the curriculum they experience is narrower and much more
focused on outputs than on understanding.” (Banks, J. A. (Ed.), 2012)
And the problem of multi-lingual/multi-cultural student populations in the Third World is
even more complex. The implementation of literacy curriculums in the Third World is hampered
by poor teacher education.
Teacher education in the Third World. The quality of education in the Third World is an
issue for continuing economic development in the region.
“Tracing the effect of education on (talent) development requires that the quality
of education be considered along with quantity. Although the catalogue of qualitative
defects in educational systems is long—poorly trained teachers, teacher absenteeism,
poor quality buildings, lack of toilets or running water, rote learning, lack of textbooks—
there is little comparative documentation of such defects across school systems in
different countries.” (Jones, G., & Ramchand, D., 2013).
Rationale for selecting these trends.
Educational opportunity currently tops economic opportunity as the major motivational
factor for immigrating to the U.S. from China, India, Japan and Korea. Results of a study by the
Pew Research Center confirm this trend. (See Figure 1.)
Running head: UNDERSTANDING ELEMENTS AND IMPACT OF LEARNING
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Figure 1. What Was the Main Reason You Came to the US?
(Pew Research Center, 2012)
As a result of this trend, academic and professional learning will undergo changes in the
near and long-term future.
What will academic and professional learning look like in the next 10 years?
Distance education that accommodates diversity. Traditional brick-and-mortar institutions
will continue to develop academic offerings for teaching at a distance. But curriculum will
change to accommodate more multi-lingual/multi-cultural student populations.
Academic and professional learning in the Third World. Curriculum in the Third World will
change to improve learners in the non-dependent 18-65 year old category if these nations want to
continue to improve their economies. Curriculum in the Third World will need to change to
equip learners in teacher preparation programs to teach non-dependent 18-65 year olds with
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more skills to accommodate Mobile learning platforms. Curriculums leveraging learner diversity
and mobility will be developed to accommodate individual learner diversity, style and location.
What and who influences the content of courses?
The entities involved in influencing instructional content are:
Government. Government has a stake in public education to shape the workforce. With
an educated and literate workforce economies can attract foreign investment leading to an
expansion of the economy.
Academia. Academia has a stake in public and private education to influence and
develop the non-dependent 18-65 year old population and equip the economy for research and
development.
Industry. Industry is motivated by profit. Without a literate and skilled workforce
industry will not show profit and attract foreign investment.
Content influences in the Industrialized World. Content influences in the Industrialized
World will always equip learners with skills to support the economy. However, in the next ten
years, additional curriculums will be developed focusing on multi-lingual/multi-cultural student
populations. Universities with distance learning offerings will begin to market to learners with a
variety of diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural dynamics.
Content influences in the Third World. In the Third World, content will need to support
teacher skills and distance learning platforms.
Who is involved in the development and design of adult learning? Universities,
corporations, and businesses dedicated to curriculum development will focus on adult learning
and content focused on learners with different levels of diversity and literacy. The Third World
will develop more curriculums specifically for female learners to create gender balance.
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How will these changes affect instructional design?
The two common themes for changes in future curriculum development seem to be
curriculum delivery at a distance and the necessary teacher/facilitator skills to employ them.
Mobile Learning Platforms and distance learning. For both the multi-lingual/multi-cultural
and Third World students delivery of curriculum content will accommodate students increasingly
diverse and unable to travel to a brick-and-mortar school or college. Curriculum developers will
develop courses that students choose to take to tailor their skills for their chosen career; while
learning from a distance.
Teachers equipped to use Mobile Learning Platforms. Curriculum developers will become
part educator, part computer programmer to develop courses that can appeal to multilingual/multi-cultural students. For some time now, the field of instructional technology has
been gaining increasing popularity.
Conclusion
In this paper I have discussed how curriculum will change over the next 10 years. It is
projected that the greatest influence on changes in curriculum will be influenced by two forces:
economic development and immigration of learners from the Third World.
Continuing economic development in the Third World will depend on improvement in
education leading to a literate workforce. Though literacy is improving, government, academia
and industry will invest in improvements to educational systems to keep their perspective
economies improving.
Where investment in improvements is not made in a timely manner we may expect
learners in the non-dependent, 18-65 year old demographic to continue to immigrate to
industrialized countries with greater education opportunity.
Running head: UNDERSTANDING ELEMENTS AND IMPACT OF LEARNING
Finally, to take advantage of this influx of non-dependent, 18-65 year old learners,
curriculums in industrialized nations will change to accommodate greater learner diversity and
distance. Institutions of higher learning will utilize strategies for mobile learning for greater
impact in equipping their workforce for the diverse learners of the future.
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References
Banks, J. A. (Ed.). (2012). Encyclopedia of diversity in education. (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks,
CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.4135/9781452218533
Eakle, A. J., Russo, C. J., & Osborne, A. G., Jr. (Eds.). (2012). C. J. Russo, & A. G. Osborne, Jr.
(Series Eds.), Debating Issues in American Education: Curriculum and instruction.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.4135/9781452218465
Jones, G., & Ramchand, D. (2013). Education and Human Capital Development in the Giants of
Asia. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 27(1), 40-61.
Pew Research Center (2012), The Rise of Asian Americans. Retrieved from the Internet on
7/25/2015 at http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2012/06/SDT-The-Rise-of-AsianAmericans-Full-Report.pdf