Closing up shop
The high street has been a casualty of both the recession, and shifts in the way that people spend their money. We lost Zavvi because more and more people are now buying their music and movies online. We lost Borders because Amazon undercut them on price and convenience. When 'better and cheaper' is available online, bricks and mortar stores feel the brunt of this. The ones that don't adapt to this new landscape disappear. The ones that reconstruct themselves to amplify what the online stores can't offer have a better chance of survival.
Skip forward a few years into the future. Students can construct their own curriculum online, from blocks of content - either user or professionally produced. They can make contact with, and gain skills informally from others, through sites like School of Everything. They have most of mankind's knowledge in their pocket - along with any other new learning tools that might have emerged.
Are they still going to be coming into a Victorian building at 8am with their blazers on and top buttons done up?
Are they still going to be keeping their mobiles out of sight, and regurgitating information for high-stakes exams?
Are 'Sir' and 'Miss' still going to be in charge of what, how and when they learn?
Borders wasn't books - it was a shop that distributed them, until a more effective method of distribution came along. Similarly, schools aren't learning - they're institutions that deliver it en-masse. What happens when more effective and student-centric ways of delivering learning come along? Unless they start to transform themselves now, they might well find themselves being made redundant.
