How might one community shape the future of learning in the face of exponential change? This publication focuses on positioning the Pittsburgh region for a new era.

Already a leader in incenting ecosystem-wide innovation to help engage students in the digital age, Pittsburgh’s Remake Learning Network commissioned KnowledgeWorks to help the region answer that question by exploring potential local impacts of trends highlighted in our fourth comprehensive forecast, The Future of Learning: Education in the Era of Partners in Code.

Ten years ago, educators in the Pittsburgh region were grappling with the issue of how to best connect with learners. As the digital revolution changed the ways in which learners pursued knowledge and sought support, educators were coming face to face with the need to adapt learning for a new landscape. The Remake Learning Network was born out of a desire to help educators in and out of school connect with youth by reimagining the face of learning in the Pittsburgh region. The Network activates project-based and future-facing educational practices, many of which harness technology as a tool relevant to this generation of students.

Since its creation, the Remake Learning Network has helped tens of thousands of educators, students, and their families become engaged in the process of remaking learning. Dozens of school districts have transformed their buildings, curricula, and teaching practices, and more youth than ever before are taking part in innovative out-of-school learning programs.

Looking ahead ten years, the pace of change will accelerate, creating an ongoing need to adapt learning for new contexts. Exponential advances in digital technology, combined with other drivers of change, are ushering in a new era in which education could look drastically different than it does today. While it is tempting to be satisfied with the Pittsburgh region’s success in remaking learning, there is a growing urgency to consider the impacts that new social norms, organizational approaches, economic models, and technologies could have on learning.

Drawing upon KnowledgeWorks’ comprehensive ten-year forecast, The Future of Learning: Education in an Era of Partners in Code, this forecast for learning in the Pittsburgh region highlights ways in which changes on the horizon could shape the region’s educational landscape. Such changes could include the redefinition of wage labor, deeper insights into our brains, emotions, and biological systems, the emergence of new types of economies and notions of value, an emerging open culture movement, new models for conducting transactions, and increased environmental volatility. It invites community members, parents, educators, and other stakeholders to explore new possibilities for learning that promise to help learners and the region adapt to the emerging era.

The future is up to you. We invite you to imagine what learning might look like and to become an active agent of change in bringing new possibilities to life.