We have just crammed a decade of educational innovation into six months. Schools and colleges pivoted, redefining how they deploy technology, use space, and set up their schedule. These are things that have been listed in strategic plans for over a decade and, left to their own intentions, schools and colleges did not innovate much. Then came the pandemic and with it came the urgency to reinvent. In fact, reinvent or die.

Talking with schools and colleges every day, I see three distinct stages of reinvention having occurred since March 2020. They are:

Phase One, or the “deer in the headlights” phase, was from March to June 2020 and marked by an all hell’s broken loose move to remote learning, no matter if your organization was ready or not.
Phase Two, or the “we have to reopen in the fall” phase, was from June to August 2020 and marked by thoughtful scenario building, health compliance considerations, and an all summer push for a new way to open.
Phase Three, or the “what’s next” phase, is hitting schools and colleges now and it is marked by thinking and planning strategically for a new reality where day schools compete globally, technology levels the playing field, and learning becomes more stratified in delivery platforms and cost structures.

We are at the dawn of the economic redistribution of learning through technology. What happens in the next 36 months will largely determine what the playing field of the future looks like. The time to develop strategy is now.