Sunday, September 04, 2005

The World is Flat

I just started reading this book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Thomas Friedman, but I wanted to quote a paragraph from the first chapter. I think this book, while not directly referencing our educational system, provides a theory for a technological future that educational policy makers would do well to attempt to understand.

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. As I detail in the next chapter, we are entering a phase where we are going to see the digitization, virtualization, and automation of almost everything. The gains in productivity will be staggering for those countries, companies, and individuals who can absorb the new technological tools. And we are entering a phase where more people than ever before in the history of the world are going to have access to these tools—as innovators, as collaborators, and alas, even as terrorists.”

Why is the world flat? “Everywhere you turn, hierarchies are being challenged from below or transforming themselves from top-down structures into more horizontal and collaborative ones.” Very much like what David Weinberger suggested in his NECC keynote: The New Shape of Knowledge.

Posted by Randy on 09/04 at 02:27 AM
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Saturday, September 03, 2005

Windows on the Future

Even though this book was written four years ago, it expresses in a clear and concise manner what changes need to happen in our educational system and why. Ian Jukes and Ted McCain have laid out in their book a series of “windows” through which they look at the rationale for change in the educational system.

  • Window 1: The Power of Paradigm
  • Window 2: Mounting Paradigm Pressure
  • Window 3: Assessing Your Paradigm
  • Window 4: The Technology of Change
  • Window 5: Moore’s Law
  • Window 6: Looking at the Road Ahead
  • Window 7: It is Time for Education to Catch Up
  • Window 8: Education in the Future
  • Window 9: New Skills for Students
  • Window 10: New Roles for Educators
  • Window 11: The Need for Vision

Much of this writing is reflected in the writings of Ian Jukes and Ted McCain that I have blogged about here and here. Some other interesting points include:

  • They suggest that there are four major trends in technological developments:
    1. Global Digital Networks
    2. Technological Fusion
    3. Emerging Strategic Alliances
    4. Personal Computers for Everyone

    It’s not hard to see how these trends are acurate four years after this book was written. These trends are reality, a reality that will only continue to develop at an ever increasing rate.

  • Students will need to acquire new skills. And it will be our responsiblilty to provide them.

    1. Problem solving and critical thinking
    2. Communications skills (including speaking and listening)
    3. Technical reading and writing
    4. Applied technical reasoning skills
    5. Information literacy
    6. Technology as a tool
    7. New personal skills
    8. New mind-set skills
    9. A beef stew curriculum

     

  • Educators will need to change also:

    1. Educators as futurists
    2. Educators as process instructors
    3. Educators as guides
    4. Educators as knowledge experts
    5. Educators as models
    6. Educators as learners

They sum up the need for change nicely in the final chapter:

“The real issue is the paradigm paralysis of teachers, administrators, parents, and politicians, who have a rearview-mirror mentality when it comes to what schools should be. In the end, the issue is not just a hardware issue. More and more, it is a headware issue. It is about paradigm and the way we view the world. Those in education must learn to get comfortable with the inevitable and constantly coming change and use it to shape our vision of tomorrow and the tomorrows beyond tomorrow.”

I highly recommend this book. It is one of the clearest and most concise statements about effective educational change and how technology will be a catalyst. It leads us to the root causes we should be looking at, rather than merely symptoms.

Posted by Randy on 09/03 at 09:45 AM
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Friday, September 02, 2005

Big Ideas for Better Schools

This month’s back-to-school issue has a special insert called “Big Ideas for Better Schools.” Over the next year, each month’s publication will focus on one of these big issues. They are divided into 4 categories: Students, Teachers, Schools, and Community. I think they are all good ideas. I wonder what others thing, particularly teachers. I look forward to reading about each of these “big ideas.”

Students:

  • Engage: Project-Based Learning
  • Connect: Integrated Studies
  • Share: Cooperative Learning
  • Expand: Comprehensive Assessment

Teachers:

  • Coach: Intellectual and Emotional Guide
  • Teaching as Apprentiship

Schools:

  • Adopt: Technology
  • Reorganize: Resources

Community:

  • EInvolve: Parents
  • Include: Community Partnerst
Posted by Randy on 09/02 at 08:30 AM
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