Future Now
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Not a Form but a Philosophy of Our Time - Part 3
Part 3 of 4
In Pittsburgh, the Millennial Trains Project witnessed what the power of futures thinking and imagination can do when we heard from the entrepreneurs behind Sole Power—a company set to revolutionize how we think of energy. Sole Power is a power generating sole insert that collects energy from walking—we'll be able to charge our phones, or produce light just from walking around the block.
Matt and Hahna, the inventors and co-founders of Sole Power, came up with the idea when they were imagining a future where we wear jumpsuits that collects the energy we expend from uncharted play. When thinking about what our experience in a future possible world would be, the stretch of imagination lead them to begin making that future reality.
"Life goes on in an environment, not merely in it but because of it, through interaction with it," says Dewey in Art as Experience.
But in a world where the physicist's atoms appear more real than the qualitative face of the world, brain scans more important than the true depths of the human mind, and a college degree more valuable than a well used passport, we must step back and recognize the source and the ultimate court of appeal in our knowledge of the world— our experience.
"We need to move toward experiential learning, and away from the classroom," emphasized Editor-at-Large of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Selingo, as we moved through the Ohio night, the lights of sleepy towns in the distance dotting inky blackness.
Can education and government remain relevant in a world of innovation, change, and ever growing connectivity? As Millennials struggle to find our place in the job market, will we be able to prepare ourselves to be self sufficient entrepreneurs in an unstable economy? Is it possible to inspire young people to become life long learners and thoughtful civic participants?
As the affordability of MOOCs lead us to question the expensive traditional classroom environment, we must ask ourselves both as individuals and as a society, what does a 21st century education look like?
Draper University of Heroes, a Silicon Valley-based endeavor by Tim Draper aka "The Riskmaster," sees the need for "a school for innovators." With "special powers" training, the "superhero" student entrepreneurs create a company, and after six weeks of mentoring and coaching from experts, finally pitch for funding from Silicon Valley VCs.
Singularity University, also based in Silicon Valley, sees 21st century education as a place to begin "utilizing accelerating technology to address humanity's hardest problems." Ranging from 1-10 weeks, Singularity U offers the 10 week graduate studies program for future leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists; and the executive program for corporate specialists. They also offer the week long "FutureMed," which explores breakthrough innovations in healthcare.
Coding schools, of various length, see a world where we must "program or be programmed," as Rushkoff says. Hack Reactor, based in San Francisco, is one example of this kind of 21st century adult education. A 12 week "programming bootcamp" that takes students through a rigorous 9 hour/6 day a week schedule, they boast that 100% of their alumni graduate as software engineers with 6-figure starting salaries.
For More Information
- Governance Futures Lab
- Governance Futures Lab and the Millennial Trains Project
- Social Inventor's Toolkit
Lindsea K. Wilbur is an IFTF Research Affiliate.