Quantum Learning

Einstein is credited with articulating the notion that “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

Quantum Learning is the name given to a project under development by a small team of educators.  It is based on the belief that we now have the access and the tools to allow us to build personalized learning experiences (1) that meet the challenges of learning for today and tomorrow, (2) are driven by learner interest and passion and (3) that need not be confined by the the limits of the school’s walls.

We believe that it is schooling itself, with its calendar and curriculum, its grade levels and courses that is the problem… not the kids, not the teachers, not the available technologies.  As the needs of learners become increasingly complex, we have misidentified the problem and, as a result, we are spending significant time and valuable resources on trying to do “schooling” better… better curriculum, better teachers, better data, better leaders, etc. All the while we are getting further and  further removed from the learner and learning.

Today, there are too many students unprepared to define, direct, and successfully meet their own learning needs.

Too many students lack experience in collaborating with others from communities beyond their own to meet common goals.

Too many students lack the confidence to know that they can be their own learning agent… able to plan their learning, organize resources and set learning targets.
Marching “backwards into the future” is NOT the answer.

And yet, adults in schools still set the curriculum for entire groups of students for jobs which do not yet exist in the belief that they can see tomorrow’s career opportunities
Newtonian “linear, sequential” approaches ignore the reality that neither the learning nor the learner is ever independent or isolated. Genuine learning is characterized by connections.  The Quantum project seeks to help students make such connections and do so in ways that rely on  demonstrations of learning and recognition of such accomplishments.

A continued adherence to the notion that geography and time are still valuable organizers for learning perpetuates serious, crippling problems for our students, our nation and our world.

We believe that learners, teachers, schools and districts can be part of a connected system that is on-demand, flexible, responsive to learner needs and capable of recognizing and transferring documentation of learning.  We seek to develop an organic, personalized learning system adhering to core values and matched to identified learning needs.

In this section of Rethinkinglearning we are looking for examples of such connections… examples of learning driven by student interests and facilitated by/supported by adults both in the schools and in communities.  We invite you to share such experiences here and to help begin a conversation about the ways in which such experiences might be expanded for students and adults alike.