Mr Merz, will there still be classrooms in 2020?

Media educator Thomas Merz on the school of the future, teaching with digital media and how media use will change.

Mr Merz, where is the school heading?
The framework conditions for schools have changed dramatically in just a few years. And the change is continuing. Access to information and all media offerings is constantly becoming easier and more natural. As a result, the focus is shifting - from teachers teaching a defined subject matter to accompanying pupils in their intensive learning and research.

Guiding students - what does that mean in concrete terms?
Teachers focus more on the learning process. Pupils learn to assess their prior knowledge on a topic, recognise their learning needs, plan the learning steps and take them together. They regularly assess their learning progress and, at the end, how much they really know about a topic.
What skills do pupils learn for the future?
How to find their way through this wealth of information. This includes not just memorising something, but becoming aware of what what they have learned means. We need to develop a greater awareness of which content we need to master thoroughly and without errors and which we can only skim over. Where is it not enough to read a short article in a free newspaper or quickly google something? For which topic do I perhaps need to read and compare several articles, consult books, do research? And how do I use social resources, such as classmates, as learning partners?
Today, lessons are mainly held in year groups. So will that disappear?
That's a difficult question. I myself don't believe in a revolution, but in evolution. Many things can be realised very well in the classroom. But I suspect that the classroom will be dissolved more often, because independent work on topics, alone or in learning groups, will become more important. So the question will be asked more often: «How do we really use the time when pupils are together for shared learning and social experiences?».
What role will parents have in the school of the future?
Especially when it comes to media, you still sometimes hear in teachers' rooms: «Media education is a matter for parents.» However, this needs to be formally assigned. This could mean, for example, discussing and clarifying these questions with parents when the child starts kindergarten: What is the parents' job and what is the school's job?
What will everyday school life look like with digital media in 2020?
Computer technology will be available everywhere and at all times. As a result, it will be used more easily in lessons. This is already the case today in classes that work intensively with digital devices: You can quickly record a text as an audio file and send it to the others, create a short explanatory video as a solution to group work, show your presentation directly on the screen or communicate with a class in another country, for example.
How is this naturalness changing media use?
Digital media are being integrated more harmoniously into lessons and used optimally to support teaching and learning in all subjects. Pupils and teachers will explore new media, new platforms and new media products together and assess their usefulness or risks.

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