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This paper reflects on the author’s experience of an education foundation’s developing a robust and nationally recognized futures studies practice over a period of 14 years. In so doing, this paper aims to inform other futures studies practitioners about the kinds of considerations that can be encountered, and which must be managed, in starting, developing and maintaining a futures studies practice.

Organized around KnowledgeWorks’ triennial forecasts on the future of learning, the paper takes a narrative approach to describe the organization’s and the author’s future studies journeys, examining ways in which organizational learning and dynamics, as well as audience reception, affected the relative success of the study.

The paper begins by describing KnowledgeWorks’ excitement when publishing its first forecast on the future of education as a client of the institute for the future put KnowledgeWorks on the national map. It goes on to examine the organization’s capacity development in learning how to engage education audiences in exploring the future of learning, situating the study in the field of futures studies and developing internal capacity and thought leadership in the field. The paper concludes by reflecting on key aspects of KnowledgeWorks’ organizational learning; the organization’s leadership, moment and culture; and the author’s professional development journey.

The paper will help other future studies practitioners, along with organizations interested in considering investing in futures studies, anticipate considerations that could help them strengthen their practice or set up their organizational investment for success.

The ability to project oneself into a future landscape is a critical aspect for studying and practicing the science of foresight and foresight-based learning systems. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how we can construct immersive spatial narratives through multimedia-enhanced learning approaches, to increase deeper learner immersion and levels of creativity to transport the learner into a simulated 2030 landscape by reducing the distance between the projected reality and the Self.

The author designed a foresight-based course on the Future of Mobile Learning underpinned by a new learning system that embraced the concept of immersive spatial narratives, combining physical, virtual and cognitive learning spaces, which enable students to explore complex, undiscovered or unstructured knowledge. Practicing was carried out on 35 students who had completed the course during the preceding three years through a questionnaire and interviews to establish increased levels of creativity in a simulated future landscape.

The paper established that the addition of multimedia learning environments and tools to foresight-based learning creates immersive spatial narratives that increase creativity and learner ability to project him/herself into a simulated future landscape. In all, 75 per cent of the respondents stated that having to think about the future and place themselves in a practicing landscape increased their creative skills.

A new, foresight-based learning system driven by the concept of immersive spatial narratives, enhanced with student-created multimedia learning tools. The system demonstrated how this approach helps to increase learner creativity and the ability to transition from their Present Self to their Future Self.

Previous studies showed that combining learning based on experiences in the past with learning from an envisioned future scenario results in more innovative and radical ideas, as well as in a higher number of covered content domains. However, currently there is no holistic learning theory that integrates both sources of learning. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether it is possible to extend Bateson’s theory of learning, to link these two learning sources in one coherent framework.

To answer this research question, the author draws on learning from an envisioned future, and tries to link it with the most important levels of learning in Bateson’s framework.

This paper contributes to the literature by attempting to link the important but still underexplored aspect of “learning from the future” to the complex and multifaceted work of Bateson. Given the fact that both sources of learning and experience yield a great potential to create new knowledge, this study outlines a possibility to include both sources into one learning theory.

This work provides the basis for further research in building a general holistic theory of learning to learn.

On the individual level, the proposed approach can be easily applied with systemic coaching processes in general and coaching processes in the fields of developing an individual vision in particular. In the field of organizational learning, the awareness of different learning sources and different learning modes on the one hand and knowledge about the implementation of enabling spaces (PE-ba, FE-ba) to support these various learning modes on the other hand help organizations to generate new knowledge and create innovative and sustainable solutions, products and services.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first theoretical work that describes the integration of learning from past experiences and learning from future experiences in a methodological way.

This study aims at analyzing the impact of perceptions of the fourth industrial revolution (crisis and opportunity) in the relationship between workers’ career attitudes and future learning intentions.

This study analyzed the multiple mediating effect of the perception of the fourth industrial revolution in the relationship between career attitudes and future learning intention using data of 305 Korean workers. As career attitude variables, boundaryless and protean career orientation variables were used, and perception of the fourth industrial revolution was analyzed (opportunity and crisis perception).

Both workers’ boundaryless career orientation and protean career orientation influenced future learning intention through the perception of opportunity for the fourth industrial revolution. This result suggested that flexible career attitudes positively recognized the changes of the fourth industrial revolution and had an effect on promoting attitude toward future learning.

The study confirmed that workers’ flexible career attitudes could promote perception of opportunity rather than crisis in changing situation and strengthen their intention to prepare for the future by mediating this perception. These results suggest that lifelong learning and competency development can be reinforced by facilitating perception of an opportunities for external change for individual career development.

Insights for personal career development were provided by analyzing the relationship between flexible career attitudes, which are increasing in importance in the modern society, and perceptions of changes in external environment.

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the future for e‐learning is as bright as it has previously been heralded, or whether it is likely to fade into the background over time.

The paper is based on 29 research case studies.

The importance of time and commitment are drawn out, suggesting that a slower pace of development may not necessarily be a bad thing. Organisations need to focus on what really matters – creating an environment that truly values learning, which for many may involved a substantial culture change. The importance of communication, promotion and marketing are presented, with the commitment from the top giving e‐learning the necessary status it needs in order for it to be taken seriously throughout the company. Selection of technology is also important as this can be a limiting factor to further e‐learning development.

Broader considerations for discussion as to whether an organisation is truly committed to an e‐learning future or not.

This article concludes the series by focussing on what the research tells us for the future development of e‐learning.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between job characteristics that foster learning (experience with and demand for continuous learning at work, skills variety and autonomy) as potential predictors of self-reported outcomes, such as future learning ability and employee disengagement at work for a cohort of employees with no or very limited job change experience. Further consideration was given to employees’ experiences at work (meaningfulness and recognition at work) as potential mediators in this relationship between job characteristics and employee outcomes.

A cross-sectional design was applied. Participants (N = 284) were recruited from Northern Germany and asked to complete a paper-and-pencil survey. The results were subsequently analyzed using path models to examine direct and indirect effects associated with mediation.

Path model analysis indicated that job characteristics promoting learning at work are positive predictors of self-reported future learning ability and negative predictors of disengagement. Both meaningfulness and recognition predict future learning ability as well. However, these variables only operated as significant mediators in the relationship between job characteristics and employee disengagement (but not self-reported future learning ability).

The study outlines the importance of job characteristics and employee experience to understand employees’ beliefs about their learning ability and engagement at work. The findings highlight the importance of meaningfulness and recognition for employees, as well as the role of learning-supportive job characteristics.

A research project exploring emerging student needs explored six aspects of student life: living, learning, working, playing, connecting and participating. Learning is explored here. New learning models and approaches and changing student expectations could lead to dramatic reshaping of the higher education landscape. The purpose of this paper is to summarize two scenarios about the learning domain from the Student Needs 2025+ project and highlight implications for the future of higher education.

A modified version of the University of Houston’s “Framework Foresight” method was used to explore the future of six aspects of future student life.

Students will increasingly gravitate toward new learning models focused on experiential learning, taking advantage of advanced “edutech” and aimed at achieving specific outcomes. They will seek personalized learning approaches specific to their needs, and they will be increasingly willing to look outside the traditional higher education system if needed. The landscape will be characterized by power struggles: between the traditional players and the new entrants, between institutions and students and between competing philosophies of learning.

In terms of research limitations, the paper is focused on the needs of students and does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis of all the issues influencing higher education. It views the future of higher education through the lens of students and their emerging needs.

The paper is intended for educators, researchers and administrators to provide insight on how the needs of students, their key customers, are evolving.

This research explores student life in its totality as way to more accurately identify student needs in the future.

The study investigates the effects of learning abilities, market changes and technological development in the field of the need for future skills.

This quantitative research is a descriptive study, as it describes the characteristics of variables. Non-probability sampling was applied. A survey was distributed online during May–July, 2021, using a cross-sectional timeframe, to managers (in three industries: FINTECH, FMCG and industrial/production field) who work with teams of Gen Z and Millennials. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS.

There is a significant positive relationship between learning abilities and future skills development, there is a significant positive relationship between technology development and future skills development, and there is a significant positive relationship between market changes and future skills development.

Data were collected through online surveys, focusing on three industries. This study neglects the use of qualitative data in order to gain further explanations regarding the main factors influencing employees' future skills development in times of globalization, advanced technology, global crisis, and the need for sustainability, the model of qualification for future jobs seems dynamic and controversial. This study's empirical evidence illustrates that future skills need to be developed for employees in order to affect their methods with regard to performing their role in the company.

New skills are necessarily emerging in the labor market. The maturity level of higher education institutions to promote these skills is questioned. Thus, this study develops empirical knowledge for educational institutions regarding the effects of learning abilities, market changes and technological development.

The world of work and education is changing at a rapid pace, driven by continued technological disruption and automation. The future is uncertain and difficult to envisage. A futures thinking scenario planning approach is used in exploring and guiding education policy makers on how best to respond to the range of possible futures. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study utilizes elements of prior scenario planning methodologies to devise a practical model of preferred and plausible likely scenarios in the context of rapid and continuing technology disruption. Based on the notion of “impact and uncertainty,” two possible future alternatives of work and learning were developed. Incorporating elements of the possibility space scenario framework and a vignette approach of current emergent technologies, this paper assessed the usefulness of the preferred and likely outcomes.

While preferred future scenarios entailing collaborative styles such as human–machine cooperation, smart virtual active learning campuses and living knowledge learning environments may produce more desirable benefits for education stakeholders, the more likely plausible scenario is one based on continued disruptive technologies. Automation, artificial intelligence and the advent of 5G network technologies will drive customization and personalization in higher education delivery and revolutionize the work landscape in the immediate future. Universities will need to embrace and respond to these changes.

The paper gives insights into how universities can prepare their students for future of work and improve their employability. In addition, this author recommends ways in which HEIs can leverage these newer technologies to drive educational services and commercial value.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.