Exploring the future
of education
Latest from the DEFI blog

Gaming in Education webinar recap
Exploring "Practical and theoretical insights" with a global audience Our latest DEFI webinar explored The Future of Gaming in Education, with an international panel from Denmark, the US, the UK,...

A Room of Opportunity – Dialogic pedagogy with Dr Ingunn Ness
A visit from Dr Ingunn Johanne Ness Students and fellows from Hughes Hall and the University of Cambridge gathered in May 2022 to hear from Ingunn Johanne Ness, Senior Researcher and Cluster Leader...

Researching the future of education
Why we need the Digital Education Futures Initiative Some people claim that technology should not drive what we do in education. Technology they say, is just a tool to help us deliver the...
From the DEFI Innovation Lab
The DEFI Future Skills Report
Discover the nine categories of Future Skills that today’s learners need for tomorrow’s workplace. Plus, free access to the journal article in Irish Educational Studies.
What we do
Collaborative research projects with industry partners is the core business of DEFI.
In addition we already, or intend to:
- Conduct evidence mapping, horizon scanning and future scoping to analyse emerging trends, anticipate their impact and explore new models of education that may have a ‘real world’ impact.
- Build and support a global community of stakeholders (including academia, education, policy and industry) to explore and develop new models of education and new research priorities arising due to the growing prevalence of digital technology.
- Create collaborative research initiatives, for example research with industry partners on ‘Virtual Internships’ as a model linking enterprise and schools, research on just-in-time learning and on online lifelong learning.
- Work with Cambridge University Press & Assessment and other partners to develop innovative ways of assessing important ‘future skills’ and competences (e.g. teamwork, creativity and collaborative problem-solving)
- Support a strong PhD programme, for example joint PhDs with companies exploring the educational potential of different technological innovations
- Offer social enterprise education and support for education initiatives that spin-off from research
- Investigate new models of education by design-based research, for example; Cambridge OWL, a global web to support young people learning together as they tackle global challenges; CamTREE, an online-mediated teacher research exchange and VIP, virtual internship scenarios supported by enterprises to give young people the experience of working on real-world challenges.
DEFI works with partners in industry, policy & practice to explore new models of education enabled by digital technology and serves as a catalyst for positive change
Stay in touch
Message us or sign up for our emails
Please note that if you select ‘Yes’ below, you will receive emails from the Digital Education Futures Initiative about events and other activities. You can unsubscribe at any time. See our privacy notice for more information on how we take care of your data: www.deficambridge.org/privacy-policy.