By Linda Melrose - Adult and Community Education, Onehunga High School
In November Nigel Sutton from Wellington High School and I travelled to San Diego for the annual LERN (Learning Resources Network) conference. For four days we were able to enjoy the company of around 500 plus attendee’s from across America.

Workshops ranged from practical to theoretical, covering a range of topics from course development to problem solving. One of the most interesting sessions was called Nineshift: work, education and life in the 21st century. The transition over the last 120 years has been greater than the earlier 2000 years and at the turn of the 20th century the catalyst for this change was the automobile. The car shaped and defined the 20th century from the way we lived and worked, mass production and how we learned.

This session focused on how 75 percent of our lives have changed between 2000 and 2020. Many people are not aware of this shift; how work, life and education are changing:

• Shift One – People will work at home. Commuting to the office will become a thing of the past and this is already happening across the world but everyone will be impacted in the next 10 years.
• Shift Two – Intranets will replace offices. Many businesses, companies and non-profit organisations already work this way and investment in office space will become a rarity.
• Shift Three – Networks replace pyramids. Last century we had organisational structures that were pyramids. Organisations’ structures are being replaced with networks.
• Shift Four – Trains will replace cars. Cars will become supplementary modes of transport as trains and light rail surpass the need for cars in order to address the environment and shift large numbers of people.
• Shift Five – Dense neighbourhoods will replace suburbs. Dense communities of homes, shops and stores, within walking distance of light rail.
• Shift Six – The difference between “rich” and “poor” will be addressed. There will be a move to shift inequalities and ensure all are provided for.
• Shift Seven – Cheating becomes collaboration as new values, ethics and behaviour replace the old.
• Shift Eight – Half of all learning is online. New methods of teaching and how we learn leads to classrooms becoming obsolete.
• Shift Nine – Education becomes web-based. Governments will no longer invest in buildings and property as web-based learning will meet the needs of the next generations.

None of the nine shifts are future predictions – they are already happening in cities across the world. Our challenge in education is to add value and stay relevant in a fast-changing world. Within adult education there will be a need for community services at a local level as communities become denser. The relevance of social space, community hubs and activities that bring people together will outpace demand. Those in need of learning opportunities who have not learned through what will become “normal and current” will seek learning that addresses this need.

This session was engaging and interesting and finished on the positive. We need to think forward and not backwards. The idea that students must learn the same subject matter, at the same speed, at the same time, in the same place has been totally discredited. Lifelong learning will be a vital part of the new learning model.