I have often mentioned a thought from A Toffler, author of Future Shock. In the late 1970's, when life was slower and simpler, he posited that the illiterate of the 21st century would not be those who could not read and write, it would be those who could not learn, unlearn and relearn. Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century ... and here we are. For those that think of the 70's as a radical time in our lives, how can you adapt to an even more radical shift of your world view? Many of you were not even a future thought; not yet born. So many of us are locked in 20th century thinking and waiting for a return to the "good old days". History has demonstrated time and again, that while we have roots in the past, the future is upon us and we had best prepare for constant change; for change to happen at an increasingly faster pace. It seems that we too often forget those lessons from the past ... the biggest one is that change happens, no matter how hard we wish to ignore or fight change.
The past few years have seen monumental changes in so many global arenas and coming to grips with what those changes mean is often mind numbing. Twitter, Facebook, Skype and camera phones fueled a revolution felt on a global level. Most of us were only peripherally aware of the seismic proportions of the speed in which hundreds, even thousands of years of cultural mores were being irrevocably changed. What do you know of today's Egypt, Mali, Syria, India, China, Brazil? What changes there have impacted us here? What have the changes here (on this side of the globe) meant for places in other parts of our globe?
Facebook, Twitter, cloud computing, LinkedIn, 4G wireless, ultra-high-speed bandwidth, big data, Skype, system-on-a-chip (SOC) circuits, iPhones, iPods, iPads and cellphone apps
... how literate are you with these daily modes of communication; with the connectedness and resulting change that is happening so fast that it seems overwhelming, impossible to keep up, much less move forward. The traditional world of education, developed at least 100 years ago, no longer prepares us for the present or the future in a realistic manner. We can find the information we previously needed to memorize. We can use digital and robotic entities to perform the tasks we used to labor over. We need to retool ourselves and our learning in order to survive and advance in our more closely connected world. And, we need to do this much faster than most of us realize. That brings us to ...
Massive, Open, Online, Courses ... MOOCs.
That brings us to Creativity and Multicultural Communication ... CMC11. We are swimming in a sea of constant change of information; in increasingly faster connection modes and we need to learn how to use, master and move on to even faster, more ubiquitous, yet to be realized methods of learning and communicating .... Facebook, Twitter, cloud computing, LinkedIn, 4G wireless, ultra-high-speed bandwidth, big data, Skype, system-on-a-chip (SOC) circuits, iPhones, iPods, iPads and cellphone apps ... and beyond to the current swift change in the world of education ....to the swift changes in the world.
Does survival of the fastest mean I should unplug my modem and take up knitting? I don't think so. Someone needs to keep reminding the edtech and online learning community that the Digital Divide still exists, on 35% globally have high speed access (figures on costs relative to cost of living and income would be revealing too) ... and part of OPEN is accommodating access.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, many new communication technologies are not particularly disability access compliant. Lifetime learning is still for those who can access it.
Now, apparently, there is even an advantage: not having to speed up, being able to more time, read and reflect more leisurely and, yes, thoughtfully
The game is still less about how much information, how fast you can get it, than what you do with it.
Labor conditions, briefly hinted at in passing, merit further consideration.
This was an interesting read on the way the world has changed over the last 30 to 40 years in terms of how we learn and communicate with each other. For me being born in the early 80's I certainly remember a time when people were just figuring out how to use computers. Now computers and using them are like second nature to us now. It is true that with the future there are so many possibilities for change. Technology changes and improves so fast that we have to stay on top of what is going on or you could get lost out here in this advanced technological world thag is always changing rapidly. Even with myself I consider myself someone who is literate with computers and the internet. But outside of Facebook and Twitter I could even learn more about the LinkedIN, skype, the SOC'S, iPAD'S, IPhones and so on. I like the quote that you used from A. Toffler "he posited that the illiterate of the 21st century would not be those who could not read and write, it would be those who could not learn, unlearn and relearn." I think this is a fascinating concept because it is true but it is not something that you necessarily think about until you read something that points it out to you which is what is happening with me this morning as I read your blog post. But as that quote says our world is changing and so much of what we do now revolves around working on computers and if one does not pay attention the new technological advances could pass one by and if you are not prepared for it you will end up looking lost. Some people, especially some of us who were born in the early 80's and before feel like they don't need to get involved and learn about our changing and evolving technological world where there are new ways to communicate and learn. Lack of knowledge in this area can lead to one being illiterate in this new era even if one believes they are fully literate.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am amazed when I think about how people did anything without technological sophistication. I promised myself that I will stay on the cutting edge of technology. I find myself always trying to bridge the gap that exist between my promise and my reality. Sometime, the survival of the fastest can be daunting.I love how I can access information fast but it takes away some of the patience and mystery of waiting. Waiting, what that?
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge difference between information and knowledge. Information can be random, infinite, overwhelming, exciting, motivating, daunting, etc... Information becomes knowledge when it has been received, assimilated and digested. It sparks the creative process when it is used to produce something else - a work, a thought, an idea, an image. There is an inherent limit to the amount of information a human being can ingest, transform and reissue without becoming overwhelmed. As we are exposed to more and more information, we push the boundaries of those limits and become better, faster, more efficient at sifting through what is available to take in what is important to us personally. We become better, but we still can't cope with infinite. Unless I am missing something, most technology is concentrating on speed and availability. Google is one of the few early companies to concentrate on helping people to work more efficiently and look at the success it has had.
ReplyDeleteOver the course of my career I've lived in three continents, worked in double digit countries and learned three languages besides English. Culture changes certain things but human nature is remarkably similar everywhere you go. Where technology has trouble getting off the ground, the issue is most often that users are overwhelmed and need help with the adoption process. A small percentage of each population is comfortable, even revels in, the liberating process of the new technology. The large majority, however, needs help at first to see how it is relevant to them personally.
I agree that the potential is there to transform world education, but I think we have reached the point where technology needs to factor in what the human being needs and how human society functions in order to make technological uptake more efficient - especially in those countries that most need to be integrated.
Look at early Apple and Microsoft. Apple was hands down technologically advanced, but Microsoft came in and made it EASIER for people to step into the waters - easier file sharing, cheaper entry cost, decreased compatibility issues. While Apple was concentrating on getting the technology right, Microsoft was concentrating on getting it to the masses. Apple was almost made irrelevant by its own inflexibility. We all know that they eventually bounced back, but now they're getting clobbered by Samsung and they don't have Steve Jobs to help them envision the future - the drama is playing out again in a similar fashion.
I just read an article about a free course on how to set up MOOC's crashing:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/04/coursera-forced-call-mooc-amid-complaints-about-course
Obviously, the audience was there. The interest is high but the technological framework was not sufficient to support delivery. There is a need for someone - company, individual, inventor, visionary - to be able to see the framework from a higher perspective and develop something that pulls together all or many of the existing media forms into a more manageable form. This framework should be flexible enough not to limit what the information is used for but structured enough to facilitate connection of relevant (or even not relevant) pieces of information so that new knowledge areas can be created and acted on more efficiently. When this higher level framework is in place, we will really see the effects of an Information Technological Revolution, exceeding even those that were seen during the Industrial Revolution. Any takers because I haven't a clue how to do it...
Just studied some of the material under Personal Learning Environment and I think this is a big part of the framework I am looking for - looks like there are many models being developed. The one that makes the deepest inroads toward being adopted is likely to make the biggest difference. Are any of them already out there? Any idea which ones show the most promise?
DeleteThe one that works best is the one that works best for you because you develop the PLN to suit your learning preferences.
DeleteWhat is your preference? visual, aural, tactile ? decidimg how you wish to connect and communicate may not be easy as there are so many different venues and capabilities,, as Vanessa Vaile has indicated. There is no one-size-fits all. Perhaps this has been one of the shortcomings of the education "system" as we have known it. We have been squeezed into a one-size-must-fit all box for "scalability", political and cultural efficacy.
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ReplyDelete