A group of adults stand around a circular table discussing a design they've sketched together.

Education leaders design ideas for the future of learning at Forge Futures in Pittsburgh, May 2024| Photo: Ben Filio

Futures to Forge

Educators and leaders from around the world came to Pittsburgh in May 2024 to author the next chapter of learning. Here's the first draft.

In May 2024, over 200 of the world’s most forward-thinking public school leaders, learning scientists, tech developers, community organizers, and policymakers gathered in Pittsburgh to ponder these questions at the Forge Futures summit. Over the course of two days, they explored the boundaries of the current education system and began drawing up plans for the future of learning.

The summit began with bus tours of Pittsburgh’s learning ecosystem. Participants toured schools, community centers, cultural landmarks, innovation hubs, research centers, and after-school programs across the Pittsburgh region where the future of learning is emerging.

The following day, the group convened to roll up their sleeves and co-create prototypes. Oriented toward a shared vision of education for human flourishing, each person started with an idea. Through human-centered design facilitation, the group came together in different arrangements to build upon the ideas with the most energy and potential. In small groups, attendees created concept posters to share the big ideas they were crafting together. Finally, the entire group convened to assess which concept posters were the most important and impactful.

Now, Remake Learning is pleased to share 11 big ideas created by Forge Futures participants, grouped into four approaches to transformation: Change Hearts & Minds, Expand the Team, Build New Platforms, and Renovate to Innovate.

Change Hearts & Minds

Public campaigns focused on raising awareness and shifting attitudes and mindsets.

  • WE ARE MORE: Change hearts and minds about what education is and foster a holistic approach to learning that emphasizes the collective experiences and contributions of all participants in the learning ecosystem.
  • EDYOUCATION: Redefine education as a continuous, dynamic, and inclusive journey where everyone is both a student and a teacher, constantly learning together.

Expand the Team

Personnel within schools and the surrounding ecosystem to enhance the learning experience.

  • CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER: Enhance students’ learning experiences by building relationships with community partners and connecting educators with community resources that help students meet their goals.
  • CERTIFIERS OF LEARNING: Make summative assessment more meaningful and relevant by recruiting community members with deep content expertise to certify students’ mastery of skills.

Build New Platforms

Developing technologies to support the evolution of current educational systems into community-wide learning ecosystems.

  • AVATAR: THE WAY OF LEARNING: Reimagine learning as a joyful, engaging adventure that connects learners with relevant people, activities, and resources based on their interests.
  • FREE RANGE LEARNING: Make peer-to-peer learning an integral part of every learner’s journey by creating a platform that provides opportunities for young people to share their skills and knowledge from an early age and continue to benefit from peer-led education as they grow.
  • EDUCATORS EVERYWHERE: Create opportunities for community experts to offer their expertise, skills, and resources on their own terms, breaking down the barriers between formal and informal learning.

Renovate to Innovate

Comprehensive changes to school systems, curriculum, and assessment to fundamentally transform educational systems.

  • EDUVENTURE: School systems are built by and with the communities they serve. Community assets become inseparable from the school experience, allowing students to earn credit for real-world learning.
  • BEST DAY EVERY DAY: Let go of letter grades, move from classrooms to learning labs, and put students in charge.
  • WALK MY WAY: A system-wide commitment to project-based learning, every day in every classroom.
  • MEASURE WHAT MATTERS: Leave conventional grades and grade levels behind and embrace assessments and progressions that affirm and encourage learning.

So where do we go from here? Forge Futures participants have the opportunity to take any one of these ideas and turn them into a working prototype with the support of a National Moonshot Grant from Remake Learning.

Over the course of the next year, Remake Learning will document and share what we learn from these and other projects to emerge from Forge Futures.

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Download the Futures to Forge PDF for more details about the 11 big ideas.