Authentic Learning - are we getting there?

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "Authentic Learning"?

I think about thought leaders in the field of education the likes of Sir Ken Robinson, Ed21 collaborators, Simon Breakspear and John Hattie. Then I think about to what extent their visions of authentic learning have been embraced in the schools that I have had the pleasure to work with. While progress is being made, I have yet to see a school that has fully broken the chains of the industrial era of education. I still see teacher centered approaches and quite often the collaborative authentic learning I see comes in the form of short term service projects. When will a school connect their students to the real world in real time using technology and onsite visits? At the heart of 21st Century Teaching and Learning are collaboration, teamwork, creativity, imagination, critical thinking and problem solving. Data and research encourages us to use authentic, collaborative and project based learning strategies to promote the 21st Century Teaching and Learning skills. There are many schools that have the necessary resources geographically nearby to engage private and public institutions in real world learning activities. For schools who do not have these resources close by, Alt Schools present opportunities to fill this void. We are 17 years into the 21st Century. The time is now for schools, government and the private sector to embrace authentic and collaborative learning.

Image credit to Steve Revington (http://authenticlearning.weebly.com/steve-revington.html)