As school administrators consider ways
to make technology more accessible to more students--and as broadband
networks continue to play a larger role in the delivery of everyday
instruction--information technology (IT) experts contend a new
"game-changing"
In the THE Journal, Geoffrey Fletcher,
editor at large of THE Journal posed a couple of questions of the ed
tech community relating to the book
The
World is Flat. Here are my thoughts on two of them.
Q1 -- How do we deal with 'Globilization 3.0'?
Globalization 3.0 is a concept that suggests that, due to the current
state of fiber optic connectivity and the wide availability of powerful
hardware and software tools, individuals are now able to collaborate
and compete globally.
We simply have to "deal with it." It's here. We can no longer deny the
fact that a huge talent pool of highly educated and sorted young people
can do the back office (and also highly specialized) work of most
Fortune 500 companies for pennies on the dollar. We need to focus on
what we do best, which is, innovating. (We also need to insist that our
legislators demand that our innovations stop being blatantly stolen by
some of these same countries.)
So maybe a better question is, "How do we produce a generation of
innovators?" ...
Q2- What role does technology play as a part of the solution?
Once you have defined a quality educational experience that creates
deep and innovative thinking, simply apply technology to it. For
example, if collecting, drawing meaning from data is important, use
technolgies related to this topic. Data loggers, lego robotics, data
bases, spreadsheets and web browsers could be suited to the task. Let's
not apply them, though, unless they encourage deep thinking. Producing
another generation of "Powerpointlessness" (Jamie McKenszie's term)
will not help! Not every deep and thoughful science or mathematical
experience may require an educational technology but there are many
times when it can help to enhance the lesson by engaging and empowering
the student.
Although, this wasn't asked, I think another factor that gives the 2nd
and 3rd world students an advantage is their desire. They want to
better their lives and they know that the key to doing it is education.
They get it. This is exactly the same ethic that waves of immigrants in
our own country have embodied. Consider this. When a young worker gets
a job at a call center (a job that would be relatively undesireable to
many top U.S. sytudents) it could result in health care benefits for
their entire family! That's a life changing incentive. I look at my own
son (granted, a decent student) with his PSP, iPod, and the many other
adornments of an upper middle class American teen life and I wonder,
"Will be able to muster the
"ganas"
it will take to make it in a 'Globalization 3.0' world?"
