The Future of Education

Our whole society is changing at an unprecedented pace, and the educational sector is no different. For at least the past 100 years, education remained the same, with few or insignificant changes, but structural shifts, such as digital learning, the introduction of artificial intelligence in schools, and the urgent need for understanding the climate crisis, affect how the children of today understand the world of tomorrow.

Every year, innovative educational models emerge, challenging traditional systems while paving the way for more adaptable, collaborative, and self-driven forms of learning. One example of such effort is the "School in the Cloud," an initiative driven by the educational researcher Sugata Mitra.

What is the School in the Cloud?

The School in the Cloud is an educational experiment built on Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs). It’s based on the idea that when given access to the right tools and encouragement, students can teach themselves and each other. The project gained worldwide attention after Mitra’s famous TED Prize-winning talk in 2013, where he proposed the radical idea that students could learn with minimal adult supervision if they were provided with digital resources and asked big, engaging questions.

In the School in the Cloud, children collaborate around shared computers, exploring and solving complex problems through curiosity and peer support. They don’t rely on traditional teaching methods but rather on their own ability to research, discuss, and draw conclusions. This approach is not only empowering, but also supports students to develop self-confidence and autonomy, cultivating critical thinking, creativity, and digital literacy.

Why This Matters for the Future of Education?

The School in the Cloud challenges the conventional teacher role and the teacher-student dynamic of traditional hierarchical obedience. This model emphasizes autonomy, collaboration, and inquiry-based learning. In an era where information is readily accessible and students have access to tools such as ChatGPT, the ability to ask the right questions, look for information in different places, contact experts, check sources, and navigate vast amounts of data is more valuable than traditional memorization.

This model also highlights the importance of global and cultural exchanges. Through the "Granny Cloud"—a network of volunteer mentors who guide and support students via video calls—children around the world are challenged with different perspectives, fostering empathy and cross-cultural understanding.

As education systems grapple with the need for more personalized and adaptable approaches, the School in the Cloud offers a glimpse into what’s possible when students take ownership of their learning journey. It’s a call to reimagine how our curricula are projected, how our classrooms are created, and how students are perceived in the scholar context. This context opens the discussion that schools go beyond places of passive knowledge transfer and can be hubs of exploration, especially when we talk about sustainability education.

Educating in a climate-changing scenario

Education for sustainable development (ESD) plays a crucial role in equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to address challenges like the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and social inequality. By promoting critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration, ESD empowers learners to shape a more just, resilient, and sustainable future. However, to fully realize this vision, education systems must overcome key challenges:

• Connect students with the environment: Many students, especially in highly urbanized areas, have limited access to natural spaces. The physical distance from the ocean, forests, and rural environments makes it difficult for students to develop a direct, hands-on relationship with nature, what can shape their visions towards a place they are disconnected with. Bureaucracy in terms of students fields visits and parents authorizations to outdoor classes can as well block interactive initiatives that would bring the students closer to the natural environment.
  

• The use of IA in education: AI-generated materials can sometimes appear authoritative without clearly showing how conclusions are reached, making it harder for students to assess the reliability of the information and cultivate critical thinking. The educational needs to create tools to support critical thinking, avoiding the spread of misinformation and fake-climate-news.

  
  

• Accessibility: Schools in many regions of the world still don't rely on internet access, making the use of digital tools yet unequal across countries, enlarging gaps and biases. Yet, 1.3 billion school-age children lack Internet access at home, and only half of the world’s schools are connected. While AI can tailor learning experiences, it risks reinforcing biases in data, leading to inequitable access and outcomes for different groups of learners.

  
  

• Schools vulnerability to climate change: According to UNICEF, across the world approximately 40 per cent of school infrastructure is built with substandard materials, making it particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards. This vulnerability was starkly illustrated during extreme climate events (hurricanes, floods, fires, drought) which caused significant damages across different regions. Climate change disproportionately impacts underserved and remote communities with fragile school infrastructure. AI virtual learning in this context is difficultly possible. Schools According to UNICEF, 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. That is nearly half of all children in the world. And that's not all, according to the World Bank, Climate change could displace more than 216 million people by 2050, forcing them out of their homes and communities, interrupting their schooling, causing psychosocial stress and straining education provision at their destination.

  
  

• Environment curriculum gaps: Environmental education is often treated as a "plus" rather than an integrated part of the curriculum. This can result in a lack of emphasis on sustainability practices, and the interconnectedness of human and environmental systems.

Despite these challenges, the opportunities presented by ESD are vast. Future trends point towards competency-based approaches, place-based and experiential education, emphasis on integrating Indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage, as well as supporting students to imagine and design sustainable futures encouraging creative thinking and long-term planning.

A New Social Contract for Education

As the world faces systemic challenges—ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to global health crises and geopolitical conflicts—the need for international collaboration in education has never been more urgent. Education is not just a national endeavour tied to language, culture, and history; it’s a global mission requiring cooperation and shared innovation.

UNESCO’s vision of a new social contract for education emphasizes collective responsibility and interconnectedness. This contract must be built on two foundational principles:

1. Assuring the right to quality education throughout life: Education should expand to include lifelong learning opportunities, access to information, and participation in the collective knowledge commons of humanity.

   
   

2. Strengthening education as a public endeavour and a common good: Education must be mainly publicly funded and driven by inclusive societal participation.

   
   

These principles align with the OECD’s mission to support high-quality lifelong learning for all, contributing to sustainable economic growth, personal development, and social cohesion.

What Can We Learn from the School in the Cloud experiment?

• Curiosity Drives Learning: When students are encouraged to ask questions and explore independently, they become more engaged and motivated.

  
  

• Collaboration is key: Peer-to-peer learning enhances problem-solving skills and nurtures a sense of community, not only for children but as well on long-life learning.

  
  

• Technology expands access, but much needs to be done to ensure accessibility: Digital tools break down barriers, providing educational opportunities to students, however access to such tools are not equal and must be used carefully, in order to support student's path and avoid blocking students criticism.

  
  

• Mentorship Matters: Support from compassionate, knowledgeable mentors—even from afar—can inspire and guide students’ growth. Visits to real-world facilities and mentorship from experts can support students to pursue inspirational roles and become the change needed in their communities.
  

  
  

  The future of education lies in our ability to innovate, collaborate, and respond to global challenges with creativity and adaptability. Models like the School in the Cloud highlight the importance of curiosity-driven learning, peer collaboration, and mentorship — key elements for shaping resilient, forward-thinking individuals. As we face the growing impacts of climate change and increasing educational inequities, it’s essential to strengthen education as a public good, ensuring accessible, quality learning opportunities for all. By embracing education for sustainable development and reimagining traditional systems, we empower students to become agents of change and stewards of a more just and sustainable future.

  Sources: Gray, A. (2024). ChatGPT" contamination": estimating the prevalence of LLMs in the scholarly literature. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.16887. Futures of Education UNESCO https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381115 https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/directorates/EDU/618066-future-of-education-brochure.pdf/_jcr_content/renditions/original./618066-future-of-education-brochure.pdf https://unric.org/en/the-school-in-the-cloud/

  https://www.schoolonthecloud.net/