Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is this an accredited program?
No, we do not provide or seek official accreditation. True to form, The Next Learnerspace is a dynamic evolving program, with an advanced curriculum, validated by the quality, academic trajectory and caliber of the real-life experts that design and facilitate it and provide prompt and interactions. A substantial part of the program involves self-development, research, exploration of passions and interests, and is highly customized and dynamic depending on the cohort.
Who can participate?
We offer two programs, one for high-school students and another one for educators, open to all interested individuals anywhere in the world.
When does a program start?
Interested participants complete a registration form telling us about themselves and why they would be interested in joining The Next Learnerspace and forming part of a global cohort. Once we have assembled a globally diverse group representing different interests and passions, we will launch the 10-week program. It typically takes between 2 and 4 weeks for completion of a cohort.
What is the size of a cohort?
It depends primarily on interested participants, the time of the year, and available facilitators. Typical sizes ranges between 20 and 40 participants per cohorts.
Who are the facilitators?
All of the facilitators and real-life experts are visionary leaders in their respective fields, comprising a global cohort of innovators and changemakers within a wide range of fields of expertise. They convened in early 2020 to develop the guiding principles for the program, as the founding cohort of The Next Learnerspace.
Is my child safe?
The Learning Hub contains both public and private sections. All student interactions are on password-protected sites, where every user has to login with their own personal credentials. The site is only accessible to registered students within the cohort, program leaders, and facilitators.
All of our facilitators are active in official educational settings, and, without exception, have worked with the program leaders for many years.
Administrative/login procedures are conducted directly with the families, thus ensuring that all parents can regulate access as they deem appropriate, also providing them with the possibility of viewing and accessing all interactions within the private site.
Is there a fee for the program?
The project seeks, also, to provide a self-sustainable model to provide quality education interactions online, and, as such, needs to be supported through a participation fee. We are working with corporate sponsors so that the fee is affordable for students and educators all over the world, and we provide scholarships for participants who are unable to pay the required amount for sustaining the program.
Why The Next Learnerspace?
The name of the program originates from the two founding organizations that have created the project, The Next Institute, a consulting company who has worked with some of the leading executives and companies in the world to advance innovation and meaningful leadership, and The Learnerspace, one of the leading companies in providing new learning spaces in the educational arena. The name synthesizes the intention to provide a space for tinkering, as in makerspaces, within what is considered the next wave, the future that we will create through this learning lab and subsequent community interactions.
Are we going to be assessed in any form?
Both for students and educators, the process constitutes its own assessment and the community interactions provide formative feedback in every stage of the process. In particular, project creation involves numerous stages and iterations where participants coach, review and provide meaningful feedback to each other, thus constituting, in itself, an assessment process. The design thinking modules also involve the development of prototypes that are evaluated by the community at large, so all assessment instances are actually rooted in meaningful, genuine and real-time feedback.
Do you provide certificates of completion?
Yes, all graduates of a cohort receive their own digital personalized certificate of completion. More importantly, they form part of a global group of committed changemakers who can later interact in the development of real life projects and eventually become facilitators for future cohorts.
Is this based on any particular pedagogical theory?
No, it is an evolving and dynamic program that reflects state-of-the-art learning, advanced learning and technology applications, constantly actualized through research and interactions with real-life experts.
Will there be any face-to-face events?
We do not rule that out! When the world returns to face-to-face interactions, conferences, events and global travel resumes, it would be a great idea to convene participants once a year for a project exhibition and learning festival at a place and time to be determined.
Are there any prerequisites?
Not at all! All that is required is a willingness to learn and exchange, and we will work with participants in terms of stretching them to the full extent of their personal and learning potential through the interactions and community activities.
What language is the program delivered in?
Initial cohorts will be run in English, but, in successive terms, we will be starting off with Spanish and other language cohorts.
Is this useful for students and educators regardless of their school systems?
Absolutely. The program can blend in with any school curriculum and will deliver interactions and learning activities that are highly significant, both in terms of teacher training and development programs as well as in high schools. What matters the most is that the project is creative, dynamic, and constantly renewed to reflect state-of-the-art in terms of new learnings and new learning methods.
Will the program continue after schools return to normality?
The program is, fundamentally, a global cohort of changemakers who interact to enact possible change and creative at our future. Due to the global nature of the program, it was always conceived online with the weekly live interaction to get participants together. Even as educational activity returns to face-to-face interactions, our program still remains relevant as a genuine expression of international collaboration for learning.
Can I do it more than one time?
As our program constantly evolves, participants are free to take part in as many times as they want, as well as remaining active within the learning community in the development of further projects.
Can I exit the program midway through?
We ask for a 10-week commitment and past experiences have shown us that, unless due to some personal or unforeseen circumstances, participants are very engaged, look forward to all interactions and continue for the full extent of the program. Since all interactions are recorded and registered in the online hub, even if participants cannot be present at all the video-conference meets, they can still remain active and engaged in all learning activities. The commitment is mostly to the learning community and as such, we invite all participants to keep going the whole way through.