Though I had seen the video previously, it is always thought-provoking and worth another view, as new learning and experiences inform my point of view.
This video really speaks to how much our world has changed in the last 10 years or so in regard to technology and in relation to the United States's position in an economy that is becoming more and more global. It addresses more directly the issue of the disconnect between the new technological world our students live in and how we are trying to teach as if that world barely exists, as if the world we grew up in still exists.
Never before has technology advanced so quickly and completely changed our world as in the last decade or so. This makes keeping up difficult. Technology is expensive, moreso in a depressed economy. But the other reality is just as important.
Technology is the job producer of the future. The more we can invest in technology in our schools, providing our students with the opportunity to fully utilize it to expand their learning, the more we give them the ability to compete in this more global economy. Our lesson plans need to be mindful of helping this generation develop technology skills and helping them to develop as thinkers using technology to that end. We need to make available to them the plethara of resources, experiences and opportunities for creation that technology opens up.
