We live in a fast-paced world. There are 4.3 births per second, worldwide, more than at any given time in history.
Our knowledge is almost doubling every 12 hours. In 1982, it was estimated that human knowledge doubled every 12 months; in 1945, human knowledge doubled every 25 years; in 1900, it doubled every century. Knowledge is creeping up so fast that every 3.5 hours, a new discovery or invention is announced. This could not have been possible were it not for the immense knowledge gained over the past decades.
Richard Solderberg of the National Technological University comments: “People mistakenly think that once they graduate from university, they are good for the next decade – when they’re really good for the next 10 seconds.” If you graduated with a four-year science or engineering degree, half of what you learned in the first year would likely be obsolete by graduation time.”
The educational implications of a whirlwind-paced world demanding continuous upkeep with new knowledge are tremendous.
In the Industrial Age model of pedagogy, education focused on content and being able to recall this on exams. This model was designed for an age when the industry needed workers who did what they were told. In this model, the traditional lecture, with the professor standing in front of many students, is a predominantly teacher-focused, one-way, one-size-fits-all, led teaching style. Too many students end up isolated in this learning process.
We live in a world of unparalleled connectivity offering massive information. Today’s students are growing up in a fast-paced environment dictated by digital technologies; as a result, their brains are different. They want to inquire, not just to listen passively; they want an animated conversation, not a lecture; they want an interactive education, not a broadcast dating back two or three centuries. Educators have taken notice.
The more progressive and successful schools take advantage of the technologies and incorporate the better features of the traditional model so students can best meet the needs of the future. Research shows that mutual exploration, group problem-solving, and collective work, produce better learning outcomes and understanding. The literature also demonstrates the importance of recall and attention skills while access to a plurality of thoughts improves cohesion and informed decision-making.
In the latter model, teachers can use their time more productively in the classroom. They can act more as guides and coaches, generating greater student interest and ensuring improved learning. This judicious implementation gives teachers more time for mentoring, advice, and one-on-one – one with the teacher, with one student. Ultimately, each child gets access to more information and exposure to more knowledge.
In the New York Times best-seller book: “The Digital Economy: Rethinking Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence,” Don Tapscott promotes the concept of content exchange whereby teachers, institutions, and others freely share their lectures, notes, exams, knowledge, and information online. He identifies six emerging themes impacting learning and the relationship between learning and working, learning, and daily life.
An educational system promoting these themes fully integrates the information highway enabling students to keep pace with the accelerating growth in knowledge and advanced technology.
The collaborative body of knowledge, the volume of information, the speed of learning, and a rigorous curriculum prepare students to attain the five key learning outcomes needed for the future: critical thinking, complex problem solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings. A review of the literature is definitive in this: knowledge is king!
Recommended Reading:
- The Wealth of Knowledge by Thomas A. Stewart
