Response to World Is Flat Article

Our current system of education is a business that is strongly being influenced by the current globalization process and technological updates. The days of instructors lecturing students from behind podiums and scribbling notes that read more like a physician’s prescription are over. In fact the perennial classroom that most educators have become accustomed to has become nearly obsolete by today’s standards. Most educators are making use of the Internet for more than a research tool and posting assignments online, creating interactive webquests, establishing class blogs for student feedback, and communicating with parents and students via email.
Administration must ensure proper training and professional development opportunities for today’s educators if they want them to be successful in the “Information Age.” No longer can educators rest on the laurels by having effective classroom management, incorporating multiple instructional strategies, and maintaining open communication with parents and administration. In order to prepare students for the challenges they will face from globalization, schools must now become state of the art facilities with broadband connectivity to the Internet, high performing laptop and desktop computers for staff and student access, multimedia centers with more than just outdated books, and a vast bevy of other assorted technological pursuits. In the past, the purpose of education was to prepare students for the “real world” by infusing the necessary job-related skills into their repertoire as learners. At one time cooperative learning was considered a pivotal component for establishing successful “team management” skills necessary for the workplace. Now it seems that while this is still useful, today’s students would best be served acquiring knowledge of the latest software trends due to the growth of outsourcing in our global economy.
Though this may be intimidating for some (my father refuses to even look at a computer screen and says, “I’m old and have earned the right to never have to use those annoying contraptions”) others embrace the convenience technology brings not only to the workplace but for our life at home as well. Attendance at mandatory production meetings can now be accomplished over the Internet, as colleagues can assess their growth and development while establishing new clients in foreign countries. At home, parents are making monthly payments while their kids are downloading music, participating in chat rooms, and checking their email, and of course watching clips from their favorite television programs online. However, we cannot continue to believe that this lifestyle is uniquely American as foreign competition has more than caught up and in many respects is serving as the trendsetters while incorporating technology. A great example from the article suggests, “Only 30 years ago, if you had a choice of being born a B student in Boston or a genius in Bangalore or Beijing, you probably would have chosen Boston, because a genius in Beijing or Bangalore could not really take advantage of his or her talent. They could not plug and play globally. Not anymore. Not when the world is flat, and anyone with smarts, access to Google and a cheap wireless laptop can join the innovation fray.”
Finally I agree with the article’s selection of the first three flatteners that essentially created a new platform for collaboration beginning with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, launch of Netscape in 1995, and Y2K scare of 2000. I believe that the emergence of Europe, Asia, and Latin American economies in the mid1990s has been the quintessential component for the flattening of our world because it demonstrates as the article claims, “there is nothing that guarantees that Americans or Western Europeans will continue leading the way. These new players are stepping onto the playing field legacy free, meaning that many of them were so far behind that they can leap right into the new technologies without having to worry about all the sunken costs of old systems.”