Richard Sandford Interview

Richard's work as a researcher for Futurelab makes him an ideal candidate to kick off the seminar with an introduction, since he is in a position to offer a broad perspective and an independent vision. In his experience at Futurelab he is used to adopting different roles in different settings, for example one day working with teachers and the next day being involved in policy discussions.

How unique and universal is Futurelab? Should every country have one, including the Netherlands?

Futurelab is not unique but it has been unusually successful in combining the worlds of practice, academia and policy. Often these roles are taken on by several institutions (Virtueel Platform, Kennisnet etc) rather than combined in one. It is unusual that Futurelab has been successful with a relatively small organisation.

The remit of Futurelab was to 'change the learning landscape' and according to Sandford they 'have moved on the education debate in the UK', bringing it more in to the mainstream of discussions. Technology is not good by default but offers people the opportunity to improve their quality of life: 'Learning is the focus, education is how we organise it in society'. It is important to find a balance between following the latest technological developments (such as augmented reality) and working with stakeholders.

What informs the choice of research issues for Futurelab?

On the whole Futurelab responds to policy questions. An example currently is the issue of personalisation (e.g. an RFID tag for every child – good or bad?, or 'self-motivated learning'). Futurelab has carried out studies on these issues. And do not always assume that policy research will take a 'safe' approach: the recent review for the UK government by Tanya Byron on children's use of Internet and games, for example, did not follow the usual protective approach

Futurelab also responds to developments in research as a whole, for example in the field of collaborative approaches to learning. And finally, research often responds to the team's own experiences on the ground. Richard stresses the importance of carrying out thorough research in a world where there is a tendency to follow the bandwagon and the bandwagon is often determined by the latest technology.

What is the role of public sector versus the private sector?

According to Sandford, the private sector has much to contribute but the public sector is often more thoughtful and less constrained. Futurelab tries to match up both sectors. There is increasing awareness that products and services today need to be highly professional and this is often achieved better with the private sector. Futurelab itself takes a flexible approach in composing its teams for projects, often working with external designers. It is not always easy to find people with a broad perspective. Bristol, where Futurelab is based, is surrounded by several very inspiring organisations: the Pervasive Media Studio, Watershed, Dorkbot, HP labs (now soon to be closed down unfortunately, see their role in the Mobile Bristol project).

Is it important to make the connection between schools and the creative sector?

This is the role of Futurelab. The creative sector does not always have insight in to how the education sector works. For example, they tend not to want to change the traditional classroom format and challenge curriculum restrictions. It's primarily a question of culture shifts and not specific to education. Informal learning is a good way of breaking through some of the traditions, and this approach in turn needs to be recreated in the classroom. Another issue with the creative sector is that the people working in it are sometimes biased against academia (it's all about what you can do not what you've learned). In the UK the 'creative partnerships' programme links up schools with creative industry. This is a good example of a cross-sectoral approach to achieve dialogue and collaboration.

How can you involve teachers in the design process?

According to Sanford, teachers are very committed to making learning better, although the teaching profession itself tends to be quite sheltered and not always open to new ideas. An example is a school where a number of teachers thought they had fully understood the impact of games such as the SIMS for education, but had missed the full potential of using such a game by asking pupils to perform the SIMS on a board in front the class in a classical way. One of the roles of Futurelab is to make schools see what they're missing. What could classrooms look like? The general view is that the teacher will no longer stand at the front of a class, the room will be full of technology, children won't stay in one room all day, and they won't be at school all day – but there are many other alternatives. 'Futures work is good for looking at what is good and what it's better to get rid of. It's important to recognise when to learn differently from different tasks.'

Does Futurelab operate on an international level?

Futurelab increasingly operates on an international level, and in particular on the European level. An example is 'La Piazza', about intergenerational-learning in public places that are enhanced by technology. This led onto another project, Puente, in which research partners further explored some of the ideas that emerged. A number of EU bids are in the pipeline. Futurelab is well represented on the international conference circuit and sees it as an important element of its remit to share knowledge and advocacy about the future of learning. The Interactive Software Federation of Europe is another example of a partnership with Futurelab on the issue of child safety and new media.

What is on the horizon for Richard?

Among the current research interests are 'designing for social justice', addressing inequalities. Richard has already done extensive work in the field of 'future studies'. This is 'ways of looking at the future that are not specific to education'. Future studies can be seen as a new approach to policy change.