This year's report cited five challenges that the authors identified as "critical." They include:
Inadequate digital media literacy training for teachers; Out of date learning materials and teaching practices; Lack of agreement on how education should evolve, despite widespread agreement that change is needed; A failure of education institutions to adapt to informal education, online education, and home-based learning; and Lack of support for or acknowledgement of forms of learning that usually occur outside the classroom.
On this last point, the report said: "Beyond the classroom walls, students can take advantage of online resources, explore ideas and practice skills using games and other programs they may have on systems at home, and interact with their extensive--and constantly available--social networks. Within the classroom, learning that incorporates real life experiences like these is not occurring enough and is too often undervalued when it does take place. This challenge is an important one in K-12 schools, because it results in a lack of engagement in learning on the part of students who are seeking some connection between their world, their own lives, and their experience in school."
