As technology continues to be integrated in the daily lives of our region’s youth, the landscape of learning and workforce readiness is evolving. With this, youth are utilizing what some may call “non-traditional” methods to purse knowledge, seek support, and develop their identities. To ensure their long-term fulfillment personally, academically, and in the workforce, we need to “remake learning.”

About Remake Learning

Remake Learning is a network that ignites engaging, relevant, and equitable learning practices in support of young people navigating rapid social and technological change. Established in 2007, the network is an open group of interconnected, creative, and innovative people and organizations in the greater Pittsburgh region.

Their purpose is to spark and share best practices and new ideas, make it easier for neighbors and colleagues to help each other, reduce duplicative efforts in the region, and leverage resources collectively for greater impact. With this, they seek to ensure that learning is engaging, relevant, and equitable to ensure that all youth in our region have access to learning experiences that reinforce their long-term success.

Why It Matters

Just as it’s important to utilize developmentally appropriate strategies with our youth, it’s important to consider that fact that the traditional, repetitive learning structure is, as Remake Learning puts it, “a relic of the bygone factory era: a time when efficiency and repetition were valued above all, with a focus on basic knowledge and skills.”

As the needs of society develop over time, so do the needs and requirements of our youth and the workforce. However, many schools and programs are still relying on the traditional learning structure, making only small adjustments to incorporate a taste of technology. And, as displayed through stagnant or declining test scores across the years, this structure isn’t working.

Establishing Learning Values

In their mission to ensure that learning is engaging, relevant, and equitable, Remake Learning encourages the following learning values:

• • Activate skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration so learners are prepared for an increasingly technology-driven future. Doing so will empower students to identify and solve problems; to fail, try, and learn from mistakes; to express their creativity in authentic ways; and to both struggle and have fun.
• • Challenge learners to question, examine, and dissect social systems; to develop the confidence to address and deconstruct inequalities; and to construct a more just and equitable world.
• • Connect all the places learners live, work, and play, including schools, libraries, museums, parks, clubs, community centers, centers of faith, home, and online.
• • Encourage learners to explore and play and support them to follow their curiosity using varied tools (including, but not limited to, technologies).
• • Establish deep and caring relationships between learners and their families, peers, educators, and mentors.
• • Connect learners to their communities and, in an interconnected world, help learners develop cross-cultural understandings that unlock opportunities to thrive both within and beyond their own communities.

Become A Member

Are you interested in supporting Remake Learning’s mission? Consider signing up to become a part of their network!

Remake Learning members reside in the greater Pittsburgh region, including the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington, and Westmoreland in Pennsylvania, as well as parts of north-central West Virginia.

*Information provided by Remake Learning