Hands-on learning expands the skills students learn
NGLC Team
Next Generation Learning Challenges
in USA
Topics
Today’s learners face a rapidly changing world that demands far different skills than were needed in the past. We also know much more about how student learning actually happens and what supports high-quality learning experiences. Our collective future depends on how well young people prepare for the challenges and opportunities of 21st-century life.
A November 19, 2025 article in K-12DIVE by Ed Finkel explores the benefits for students when schools provide hands-on, real-world learning opportunities, based on an interview with NGLC's Andy Calkins.
Hands-on, real-world learning experiences often make instruction come alive in ways that are stickier and more powerful, according to Andy Calkins, co-director of Next Generation Learning Challenges. “There’s oceans of evidence about the importance of this kind of learning and helping learning become meaningful for kids,” he said.
While students are normally tested directly on school curricula, and there’s value in doing so, “far greater value comes when they have an opportunity to take that knowledge and those skills and apply them within a whole different set of contexts,” Calkins said. “That’s one of the primary values of this kind of approach.”
Following an example from San Diego County Office of Education, the article concludes with advice from Andy for school communities to start small and build partnerships and opportunities over time.
NGLC Team
Next Generation Learning Challenges
A dedicated team moving the mission of NGLC forward, helping to bring next gen learning to today’s students. FOLLOW US ON LINKEDIN
