My dream is for learning to begin with what a person knows rather than at arbitrary times and stages, which often forces them to try and catch up.
When I was in grade 1, I had severe asthma that routinely sent me to the hospital struggling to breathe. I got very used to having this plastic mask with lung expanding vapour being put over my face. One consequence of that was that I missed 9 weeks of school. It was only through some administrative heroics that I did not lose my grade 1 year. Catching up on the material I missed required my mother to order textbooks and teach me over the summer. Many would not have had that opportunity.
I also live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, an area which is struggling with many people who need to learn new things so that they can find jobs. The problem is, most opportunities to upgrade those skills start only once or twice a year, require that a person not have a job while pursuing them, and have a unwavering set of expectations of what incoming students must know. This prevents many people who are desperate to turn around their lives from doing so simply because they do not know everything they need and must start their programs immediately before their unemployment payments runs out. Without the ability to access education, they cannot get the jobs they will need to support their families.
The world is entering its 2nd major economic recession in the last 15 years. Whenever that happens, workers who lose their jobs need to learn new skills and students in the process of finishing their university studies may need to change their plans. Students also frequently change schools or need to skip a semester due to medical issues. Because they cannot easily get the little piece of education that they need, they are often prevented from pursuing the opportunity or even if they do pursue it, underperform because their tapestry of knowledge is missing pieces.
If only we could build an education system which could both consider where a person is in their learning journey and could function on demand, we could unlock an enormous amount of potential and unlock a tremendous amount of hope. With it, we could unlock an exciting future.
Canada 