I was reflecting the other day on the differences between my own education and that of my children. My memories are of blackboards and chalk, the teacher at the front talking at us as we furiously took notes, glued to the desk until it was time for lunch. I can remember very little of the content.

Whereas, in my own children’s education they are engaged in multi-sensory experiences. When they learn about a topic they create art, they create video, they create music, they use computers. They put their learning into different contexts which appeals to their different learning styles. Using a multi-sensory approach embeds their learning at a much deeper level.

But most importantly they are having fun. When they come home from school and can’t wait to tell me about what they have been doing it reinforces the learning yet again.

So for me the future of education has to be about finding different methods to engage children in learning, finding multiple ways to reinforce the message, using multiple tools to keep their attention. When their life outside school is a bombardment of multi-sensory experiences their education within school has to mirror that to keep their attention. Engaging our youngest minds, both in and out of school, by using a variety of formats and content has to make for a richer learning experience. What do you think?