“It is time for us to rethink who we are educating, how we are educating them, and why we are educating them the way we are. We need to rethink the outcomes we expect” says Dr. Charles Chen Yidan, the founder of the Yidan Prize.

The Yidan Prize Foundation commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to conduct a study on the “effectiveness of education systems in preparing students for the demands of work and life in a rapidly changing landscape”.

An index to measure innovation in education

The first Worldwide Educating for the Future Index was then developed, examining skills for the future including interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, leadership, creative and analytical, and digital and technical skills, as well as global awareness and civic education.

The index focuses on inputs to education systems such as education policy, teaching environment and the socio-economic backdrop of each area as opposed to outputs like test scores.

Findings of the index and interviews with 17 global experts are presented in the recently published Worldwide Educating for the Future Index – a benchmark for the skills of tomorrow. The report points out that as the nature of work continues to change, some education systems lag behind, producing graduates who do not have the skills needed for the job market.

On the other hand, some countries have prioritized reform and have made significant efforts to turn out work-ready and future-oriented citizens.

3 ideas to “future-proof” education

This research also enables us to explore opportunities based on its findings. For instance, here are three ideas to future-proof an education startup:

David Deming of Harvard University says that classrooms need to be “more project-based, interactive, with more peer-to-peer learning, group work and portfolio assessments”. Project-based learning confronts students with a real-world problem and compels them to find a real-world solution. This can be challenging for teachers who were trained in traditional methods and conducting assessments can be even more difficult. The use of software that can train teachers in these approaches can facilitate their use in classrooms. Software solutions can also help streamline assessments for teachers, students, administrators and parents.

“The cool part about a game is if you’re trying to get something and jump off a cliff and you die in the game, you get a chance to restart” said Scott Hebert, a Fort Saskatchewan-Alberta teacher who was awarded the Gamification in Education Award by the Spain-based organization Gamification World. With backing from his initially skeptical principal, Hebert transformed the province’s grade 8 science curriculum into a role-playing game called The Fight for Scientia Terra. Players assumed a role in a fantasy world, fought battles to demonstrate their knowledge and gained experience points instead of grades.

Schools increasingly need ways to reach beyond their walls to collaborate with other schools, higher education institutions, businesses, the community and society at large. Teachers provide the most important bridge between the classroom and the outside world, and they need great tools to help them. There are opportunities here for startups that allow teachers and schools to easily connect with each other and with members of the business world. Canada, Japan, Finland, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Korea, the United States and the Philippines score high in this area.

1. Tech to facilitate and assess project-based, collaborative and peer-to-peer learning
2. Gamifying the curriculum
3. Building collaborative bridges between school and society

A prize to recognize excellence in education

The Yidan Prize Foundation seeks to make a better world through education and build a community of like-minded educators, policy-makers and innovators working toward this aim.

The foundation supports two awards: (i) The Yidan Prize for Education Research and (ii) The Yidan Prize for Education Development. Each Yidan Prize laureate receives a gold medal and a sum of US$3.9 million including a cash prize and a project fund. These awards are presented at the  Yidan Prize Summit.

The summit is where more than 250 world leaders, the Yidan Prize laureates, educators, global policymakers, EdTech entrepreneurs and startups, venture capital funds and investors, foundations and NGOs will gather during the inaugural Yidan Prize Summit in Hong Kong from December 10-11 to discuss how education can be revolutionized to propel mankind into an era of human-machine interdependence.