Now we are getting into the "flat world" concepts and Dr. Zhao brings in a number of useful statistics. Some of the net effects of globalization is the off-shoring of jobs to the cheapest markets and the global rise of super corporations like Starbucks and McDonald's which can drive out local business costing a community both jobs and identity. With such globalization of the workforce and markets, what consequences does this bring to education which is traditionally a local issue? One consequence Dr. Zhao observes is the rise of something he calls "global competence" which he defines as an ability to speak another language and have a deep understanding of cultures other than our won. These are things our schools were not designed to do and the results have been documented.
Technology is also a challenge identified in these chapters. Dr. Zhao discusses Second Life in detail and demonstrates how commerce has arisen in this virtual world. Prompted by this chapter, I spent some time in Second Life and had to really dedicate time to get my avatar out of the newbie island where you start your second life. I lost all my clothes at one point and even found that my hair is considered an article of clothing... yes, my character spent a couple days bald! Dr. Zhao warns us that we need to educate students to function in virtual worlds and likens the unreality of these spaces to most of us the way locales outside the village were unreal to his father. His point is that the virtual world is real, whether we can comprehend its value or not. And it influence on the "first life" will only become greater as time goes on.
So here are some questions to think about:
What would be the biggest change we could make in a system originally designed for preparing local citizens to now produce global citizens?
What would we need to teach for kids to be skilled in the virtual world that we don't teach now?
What do we teach now that translates well into a global society influenced by a virtual world?
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Dear Dan,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you remember but you commented on my blog and gaia is a website that came up with it's own name, it was supposed to be a blog but it grew and grew and grew to a point where you could create an account and keep your avatar for a long time. Thank you Dan!
Sincerely,
Anna fifth grader at East Elementary school Mr. Moore's class