Status4 April 17, 2007
Posted by Steve in Musing, Web2.0.trackback
I finally finished a significant book entitled: The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. It appears to me to be the most significant book since Alvin Toffler’s ‘Future Shock’.
The videos that have been referred to on this site actually make use of the concepts that have been explored in the text. Basically, the text has stated that due to recent events, technology has made the world flat and it will have impact upon our society. Some of the main points that come to mind:
- Our education system prepares students for assembly line type work which is no longer applicable because the likes of S. Korea, Taiwan, India and China are carrying out the actual manufacturing.
- Our education system needs to SHIFT its focus. We need to make use of technology to aid in the shift of focus.
- The ability to synthesise material from different areas and be able to explain the concepts in a simple manner is a needed skill in the future.
- those students who take up music, drama or take up a hobby in-depth, tend to develop these type of people
- hence, the Arts are necessary to aid in the development of the holistic student
- in the Pacific Northwest of America, schools have shut down their arts programmes due to financial considerations.
- The ability to collaborate with others will be essential where distance is no longer a factor.
- People will need to be able to interact with the public readily.
- India has the ability to do everyone’s taxes since they are an educated population. Australian accountants beware! the Indians can do it overnight!
- Within accounting, those people who create new concepts will be the ones that will be retained.
- The flattening of the earth will create more job opportunities but small businesses will evolve that hire 5 – 10 people as compared a company hiring 50.
- Business structures will become more horizontal as compared to vertical.
- Web 2.0 services on the web (workflow software) will allow businesses to work smarter not harder. They will be able to let the software do the administrative work on the web which in turn allows the owners to concentrate on their core business. [Triple Convergence 1]
- eg. the advent of e-tickets for airline reservations. The consumer is doing the work of clerical staff.
- Different businesses will need to connect to each other and collaborate with each other rather than the old ‘command and control’. (Supply chains for the likes of Woolworths, Aldi). Emphasises ‘just in time’ strategy. [Triple Convergence 2]
- 3 billion more people have joined the market place with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the demise of the USSR and the entry of countries like India and China. [Triple Convergence 3]
- this will increase the size of the market as Indians and Chinese develop their middle class as consumers
- communication technology allows the Indians and Chinese to carry out tasks that used to be reserved for respective countries. eg. call centres, and production of Interactive White Boards in Canada (which most probably will move to China).
- The education system will need to shift to encourage students to be able to design, develop and create. Technology such as video editing is a natural mechanism to encourage these skills. The likes of podcasting, blogging, NoteIT, wikis and other Web 2.0 services also are other mechanisms that can help encourage ‘the swinging voters’ (swinging students) to become engaged in their schooling.
- The development of high order thinking skills is still the top skill to develop but technology should be able to compliment those subjects that develop high order thinking skills in their own way.
- Currently there have been strong statements that ‘homework’ should be abandoned and not so much demands placed on students outside of school hours.
- if we adopt this attitude, Australia will become less competitive with its brainpower
- the next generation may have to work harder to maintain its quality of life
These are just a few of the points that come to mind. It is apparent to me that the education system needs to re-think its focus. No one will change their ways too much if the New South Wales Higher School Certificate Exams remains in its current state: that is a 3 hour written exam for each subject.
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Thanks Steve for the precis of the book. I believe you are spot on. Our Education system needs a huge overhaul. Why do we still have so few kids going to Uni and actually finishing the courses they chose? Clearly we need to do more to promote and encourage creativity for our future students just like the original concepts in what was then known as Technical Education – these skills are so trans ferrableto the IT world. Let’s stop peddling theideological gargbage that was the Academic Education vogue of the 1980’s 1990’s. Schools must be a place where students who can think outside the square and or who appear to be outside that square can feel comfortable The world of work of the future and the political climate for our kids is a very different one today. Our Governement still hasn’t woken up to the fact that they are forcing our most creative people to go off-shore to find fulfilling work or employers who are prepared to fund innovation in a whole range of areas from science through to technology.
Cheers
Joan
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