Did you ever wonder if education has a role to play in stemming the obesity epidemic sweeping across all OECD countries? Or what the impact of increasing urbanisation might be on our schools, families, and communities? Or whether new technologies really are fundamentally changing the way our children think and learn?

New publication issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Dev (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD (link is external)), entitled Trends Shaping Education 2016, focuses on the trends shaping the future of education. It provides an overview of key economic, social, demographic and technological trends and raises questions about their potential impact on education. Policy makers, researchers, educators and other professionals is a source for international comparison of design trends in education, but it is interesting also for parents and learners.

The work does not provide final answers. There is no analytical or statistical report collection, much less the opinion of OECD policy on development trends discussed. But it is a good basis for thinking about the main trends that potentially affect the education and vice versa, the potential that education has an effect on these trends.