Wow. Shift Happens. I watched all 4 videos posted on the Shift Happens wiki. The videos gave me goose bumps. The numbers and figures that were showed were mind-blowing. Even though it had terrible music, the original video was my favorite (posted below). What a great delivery system to get people thinking. Take the largest video website and post a video that makes you think instead of the millions of other videos that just make you laugh or shake your head in disbelief. This is a person who understand the power of the internet and the tool it can play in expanding our thinking.
Several numbers really made me think. Most would be blown away by the technology numbers of texts, online media, advertisements, etc (they were very interesting, but expected). I was not. What blew me away were the educational numbers:
The number of honor students in India outnumbers the number of total students in the US.
Nintendo spent $140 million on research and development in 2006; the US government spent less than half that on education
What we are teaching students today in college will be outdated by their third year in college
The largest English speaking country by 2016 will be China
I have known for many years that the educational system is underfunded and outdated, but these videos just brought that point home so much stronger. It brought up so many more questions for me than it answered. Why does the US not give a higher prioity to education? Why are school's so antiquated with technology? Granted, when I was in a classroom, computers were non-existent, but in today's environment, there should be a way that school's can intergrate computer literacy with education. I know some school's can and do, but it seems that we are getting behind the eight ball even further. If technology can grow exponentially, why can't education?
I can ask questions all day and voice my opinion and nothing will matter. What matters is now that I know, I can make changes. As a future teacher, I understand the pace in which world is evolving and I need to be prepared to evolve with it or I will become outdated and antiquated. As a teacher, I will intergrate education and technology and do my best to educate children for the 21st century. I remember from my childhood days G.I. Joe would always say, "And knowing is half the battle." Well, now I know.
No comments:
Post a Comment