Borderless Learning

To support borderless learning, the Future of Learning Coalition is working to increase opportunities for students to engage in learning outside of traditional school building and seat-time constraints, including in both community-based and workplace settings.

News, Events & Resources​

Coalition Launch Webinar
Please join the Future of Learning Coalition to hear why the time is right for significant innovation, review some of our initiatives, and share our priorities for the future.
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Resources and Lessons Learned from the Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences Pilot
To support the development of high-quality Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences in middle and high schools across the state, EdSystems distilled the feedback received from pilot sites into best practices, lessons learned, and recommendations for policy and supports to help better inform the field.
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Career Development Experience Toolkit
In partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois State Board of Education, Education Systems Center at NIU created a Toolkit to provide guidance, tools, and frameworks to offer a Career Development Experience.
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Career Exploration and Career Development Experience Resource Hub
Explores resources developed through the Illinois State Board of Education's pilot program to develop Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences in middle and high schools.
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Career Development Experience Toolkit Companion Piece
The purpose of this extension is to explore Career Development Experiences and provide resources to address the needs of stakeholders outside of a traditional high school setting, including workforce development organizations, community-based organizations, and alternative high schools.
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Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network
The Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network (I-WIN) is designed to help employers, educators, and students leverage innovative models for scaling high-quality work-based learning opportunities in school districts and community colleges across the State.
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Clayton Christensen Institute: 5 Steps for Building & Strengthening Students’ Networks
This playbook was developed by the Clayton Christensen Institute to help K–12 and postsecondary leadership and nonprofits that work with those institutions implement and adapt strategies, tools, and metrics that build and strengthen their students’ networks in support of their well-being and with the aim of expanding their postsecondary and career options.
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The Illinois College and Career Pathways Endorsement Framework
The Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Act establishes a voluntary system for school districts to award college and career pathways endorsements on high school diplomas. Download the endorsement framework.
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Overview of HB 3296: Extending the Illinois Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Act
Download a one-page brief from Education Systems Center at NIU on HB3296, new legislation which advances the work laid out in the PWR Act by centering on two of its core components: the Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework and the College and Career Pathway Endorsements.
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Forbes: How Web3/Ed3 And Immersive Technologies Signal A New Era For K-12 Education
An article by LEAP Innovations CEO Phyllis Lockett describing the ways new learning technologies can broaden student pathways and skill-building.
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Forbes: It’s Time for the World of Work to Connect to Our Classrooms
This article in Forbes by LEAP CEO Phyllis Lockett underscores how today’s students will need human skills, hard skills, an ability to integrate them, and a capacity to keep learning more in order to thrive in the future of work. It features Lindblom Math and Science Academy and its “Colloquia” initiative.
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Work-Based Learning Continuum in D214’s Business Pathway
On July 18, 2022, the Illinois WBL Innovation Network (I-WIN) focused on experiences along the work-based learning continuum in the business sector. Learn how District 214, along with their industry and school partners, supports and designs opportunities in their business pathway.
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The LEAP Learning Framework
The LEAP Learning Framework is a research and evidence-based pedagogical framework for personalized learning. This guide includes research and example strategies for implementation that are focused on, led with, and demonstrated by the learner and are connected to career-relevant, real-world skills and opportunities.
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