Ed, This is a great thought, much needed. I have thought about the future of school in the world of 'everyware - ubiquitous computing'. It seems to me that school will remain important, perhaps even more so, but not for the delivery of knowledge content. The key to wealth in the 21st century is human and social capital. Schools have to provide the tools for life-long learning and creativity.
How to think, search, analyse But most important - How to collaborate. School have to increasingly focus on emotional intelligence, developing tools for communication within groups. Science is moving so fast, but so much of our lives are lived as soap operas. We need to focus on a new way to socially construct ourselves. The capacity to enhance human performance (through DNA design, re-design, implants, and other technologies) is moving faster than we have wisdom for. And I don't think we can stop this, there is no golden past to go back too, there is only the future to prepare for. In a digital world even the use of our memory will change as we will google whenever/whereever we need. But we must figure out how to create collaborative (and sanely competitive) societies. One of the most important sites for enculturation and socialization will be our schools. In some ways what kids learn in the school yard has to move into the classroom, because what they have traditionally learned in the classroom is happening in school yard. john John Verdon Sr. Strategic HR Analyst Directorate Military Personnel Force Development Department of National Defence Major-General George R. Pearkes Building 101 Colonel By Drive. Ottawa Ontario K1A 0K2 voice: 992-6246 FAX: 995-5785 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Searching for the pattern which connects.... and to know the difference that makes a difference" Sapare Aude -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 24 July, 2007 12:00 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Futurework Digest, Vol 44, Issue 40 Send Futurework mailing list submissions to futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can reach the person managing the list at [EMAIL PROTECTED] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Futurework digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Where is all this taking us? (Ed Weick) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:45:37 -0400 From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Futurework] Where is all this taking us? To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "futurework" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" When my daughter was in high school, she wasn't very good at math, so we hired a tutor who came in once or twice a week and helped her to get good enough to get through it. She's now at university, and when I ask her whether she's taken lecture notes, she tells me she didn't have to because they're on the Internet. I saw something on TV the other day which took all of this several steps further. A girl was being tutored in math just like my daughter once was. But what she was paying attention to was not a live and present tutor, but a computer screen. Equations and geometric shapes would appear on the screen, and she would type in responses. Back would come word that she got it or didn't quite get it and on it went. Where was the tutor? Why, in India of course! The girl's mother appeared on TV and explained that hiring a virtual tutor in India was much cheaper than hiring a real one here. It all made perfect sense and I began to wonder how much further it could all be taken. Do we really need schools to send kids to? Do we really need university classrooms? Are our teachers and professors vulnerable because educators are much cheaper in India? In a digital world, are the possibilities indeed endless???? Ed -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/private/futurework/attachments/20070724/0a91317f/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework End of Futurework Digest, Vol 44, Issue 40 ****************************************** _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
