impact in the future

How the theory will impact education and instructional design in the future?

-A movement towards more cooperative practices. The theory states that social interaction is critical. To move from the periphery of a learning community towards the center, one needs to be involved with the community, collaborate, inquire and assist others. This movement applies to both the education and corporate sectors. The corporate sector may be a slower adopter because it values a person's ability to be “independent” and "innovative".

- The classroom of the future: Forget abstract teaching and learning, and embrace authentic contextual learning. “Field trips” may become the norm and we may see a greater involvement of professionals in the classroom. Perhaps a name change where classrooms are called “laboratories”.

- Before moving towards the “classroom of the future” we see the integration of problem-based learning activities (e.g. The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury from the Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderbilt and the projects of the Center for the Study of Collaborative Problem Solving at Missouri headed by D. Jonassen) and other interactive multimedia applications (e.g. see “Microworlds” from the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology by Lloyd Rieber- & “Situated Games” – ‘JFK Reloaded?’)