I have been listening to the audiobook version of Thomas Friedman’s “The World Is Flat.” It is a great read/listen and offers some very challenging observations. [By the way, the material, including video, at the Friedman site is great.]
I came across another blogger offering comment on the role that technology has played in flattening the world. The idea of a “flat world” is a little tough for me to explain as the author might, but to me it implies that barriers associated with country boundaries are becoming meaningless and everyone (as individuals or companies) are operating on the same level.
I am a little futher into the book than the individual I link to above. Among other things, Friedman proposes some challenges to our educational system (perhaps more accurately to the students in the system). Here is my way of describing the challenge. Have you ever seen a t-shirt with the message to young athletes something like – “somewhere in a gym your opponent is practicing.” Friedman’s book might prompt t-shirts that say “Somewhere in India or China, students who want to be the scientists, programmers (or whatever) of the future are studying, What are you doing?).
If the issues of 21st Century skills and new educational demands do not make sense to you, I strongly encourage you to read this book and think about possible implications. Developing students’ skills, no matter how these skills are assessed, for the world most of us think we know is likely very short sighted.
