Next Generation Learning: The Pathway to Possibility

“Next generation learning” is about engaging with today’s students through “next generation” teaching and learning designs. In this white paper, the authors present a distilled set of observations about the innovative approaches used by grantees of Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC), a national initiative that seeks to identify and accelerate technology-enhanced solutions that significantly improve student outcomes. The resulting framework was developed with both K–12 and higher education in mind, since NGLC works with both educational systems. It assembles and organizes the myriad aspects of designing, implementing, and enabling next generation learning strategies at scale:

1. Defined learning goals indicating readiness for college, career, and civic life
2. Measurement of progress against those goals
3. Learning designs that are personalized, competency-based, supportive, data-informed, inclusive, and enabled by technology
4. Effective implementation encompassing fundamental restructuring of roles, resources, and infrastructure and continuous improvement cycles
5. Enabling conditions, both internal and external, for that implementation to proceed with fidelity to the original design
6. Sufficient investment and evidence, among other environmental factors, to allow for rapid scale-up

This white paper is a revision of the version originally released in September 2012. It was revised based on comment from readers with the goal of better reflecting experiences and perspectives across the wider field. Additional comments are welcome and may be sent directly to nglc@educause.edu.