Transformative Education Lab

Marina Umaschi Bers
Augustus Long Professor of Education
Affiliated Faculty at the Transformative Education Lab

In the last decade, there has been increasing demand for computer science, computational thinking, robotics, making and AI literacy, starting in kindergarten. Most of these efforts focus on the need for a technically sophisticated workforce. I take a different view, however: I see the teaching of these disciplines as a humanistic endeavor focused on formation—providing opportunities for self-directed learning, critical thinking, and relationship building.

Traditionally, liberal arts education was the one focused on with formative experiences that shape both the intellect and character. But in today’s high-tech society, technical and design disciplines also play an essential role in human formation and not merely in job preparation. These have become the
new literacies of the twenty-first century, and we must see them as formative. The rapid acceleration of technological innovation and unprecedented access to information “anytime, anywhere” demand a critical mindset and creative design approaches for solving problems that we cannot yet anticipate.
Education must move beyond technical proficiency toward cultivating purpose, ethical reflection, and agency.

In our digital age, everyday objects are increasingly interactive and intelligent. Algorithms dictate how our cars operate, which news appears in our social media feeds, whom we meet online, what job openings we see, and what products we are offered. They even shape the technologies we use for
learning, playing, and praying. Without an understanding of how algorithms work, individuals cannot fully understand the world around them. When machine learning and artificial intelligence are embedded in so many human-focused systems, the skills required become not only technical but also
ethical.

How can we build a just society when the datasets used by AI reflect human biases? How do we create learning environments where students of all ages can think critically about problems we do not yet envision—and design fair, responsible, and compassionate solutions? What if the role of CS and AI
education were conceived not as a means to prepare the future workforce, but as a pathway to engage the future citizenry in formative practices? Might we then build a new bridge between STEM and humanistic learning?

To address the challenge of digital formation in the twenty-first century, all disciplines must collaborate to understand and shape the changing relationships, institutions, and cultural contexts driven by new technologies. This requires new interdisciplinary lenses, new methodologies, new data, new tools, and new educational interventions. This realization drove me to developed a course called “Designing Formative Experiences” that I teach in the Department of Formative Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. During the Spring semester
2025, my students were deeply engaged in exploring how to design and prototype a museum exhibit focused on the concept of formation. As a culminating project, they designed and built an interactive exhibit to address the questions: What should people encounter when visiting a space that is designed to provoke reflection on formation? How might we design such spaces? Drawing inspiration from science museums, children’s museums, and art museums, students created a “Museum of Formation” and invited visitors and guests into this inquiry.

Formative education in the digital era is the intentional cultivation of what makes us uniquely human and creatively using technologies to not only acquire knowledge and skills but to also develop wisdom, discernment, and moral purpose in our lives. It seeks to shape our being rather than merely our
doing, nurturing our capacity to live meaningfully and act virtuously amid rapid technological change and the associated uncertainties.

Formation goes beyond instruction. It is a moral and spiritual practice that invites reflection on what it means to be human in an age of algorithms, data, and artificial intelligence. Formative education asks not only how to design and use technology, but who we become through our interactions with it.
It draws from the traditions of liberal education and virtue ethics, seeing learning as a path toward flourishing and positive development, rather than efficiency or utility.