Envisioning the world of the future for MUSD students

How do you envision teaching and learning for our students and teachers? What experiences would you want them to have? How would you provide opportunities for our students to gain the skills they will need for the jobs of the future? What do our students need to know and do so they can cultivate their passions that will carry them through their career paths? These are questions that 72 community members made up of Milpitas business and city leaders, MUSD Board Members, principals, district managers, parents, recent MHS graduates, and current students came together to answer in our August 7 workshop, State of the Art with Heart: Envisioning a Day in the Life of Future MUSD Students.

While technology certainly played an essential role in the dreams our participants described for our students, it was not the focal point.  Connections to the community, experts in the field, work experiences, and to each other were prominent in their descriptions. Using community based learning and probing all aspects of overarching questions to solve a problem were also embedded in their envisioning. Thinking about learning beyond the traditional classroom, including through teleconferencing with teachers and students in other parts of the world, was another element that was described as a possible future teaching tool. Taking advantage of nature, community organizations, local government, and businesses to provide learning opportunities also set the backdrop for what the group envisioned for our future “classroom” experiences. Mindfulness, service to others, expressing oneself through the arts, and athletics were thought of as integral to a rich and fulfilling educational experience for our future students.  

The world of the future will be here much more quickly than we think. It certainly won’t take the same length of time as did the industrial revolution or even the information age. In fact it is happening as we speak. Artificial intelligence and the use of big data to anticipate our needs in medicine, shopping, and even answers to our questions are two examples of how what we might have counted on as a sure path for work security is being disrupted. Our students now more than ever truly are our future, and they need us to strive to be our best together.  WE will innovate together through more conversations that will lead to an even greater MUSD experience for every one of our students.  
I invite you to click this link to see the sketches and explanations that our Envisioning team created in answer to the questions above. By the end of November we will have a short video to help further the understanding of what the team envisioned, and to use as a springboard for more conversations that will lead us in our pursuit of our vision:
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MUSD is an exceptional district in which students and staff are critical thinkers and trailblazers known for creativity and innovation. We prepare students to go out into the world and make a difference as responsible citizens who are passionate about life and learning.