In America, traditional schooling has frequently drawn inspiration from the trusty “three Rs”: writing, reading and arithmetic.
But as the technology sector continues to boom, educators have realized that this trifecta is no longer the end-all, be-all recipe for their students’ success. For today’s K-12 students, technology is a fact of life that affects everything from the way they digest information to the way they socialize.
As a result, these students will face a number of challenges as they move from the classroom into the workforce. Among other unforeseen demands, they will have to find their niche on the web, understand the interplay between biology and technology, work with data and build relationships through social media without forgetting personal contact.
According to many thought leaders, these concepts will need to be introduced early and often to ensure career success for today’s youth. That means that the role of the educator must change.
“Information transfer as the prime method of teaching is going by the wayside,” says Harbrinder Kang, a vice president for corporate social responsibility at Cisco and a spokesperson for the Networking Academy program. “All knowledge is available via the web. The responsibilities of teachers to prepare students for the 21st century is to engage, inspire and coach.”
Paul D. Miller, a multidisciplinary artist, producer and educator and author of The Imaginary App (MIT Press) adds a rapidly changing economy to this set of challenges.
“The current job market will probably be obsolete within 10 years as automation takes over more and more aspects of the modern economy,” he says. “The ‘knowledge economy’ has permeated every aspect of modern life. The classroom needs to teach [K-12] students that they are stakeholders.”
–
“We looked for peer thinkers and great storytellers with a certain edge and interesting life stories, combined with disciplined and strategic thinking,” he says.
Unfortunately, he has observed a decline in basic communications skills – manners, table skills, and eye contact – among colleagues, which inhibits true collaboration that feeds on communication.
“Business etiquette is lacking in the modern workplace,” Hayes says of meetings where even senior executives sit fiddling on their phones. “It creates a mental and physical barrier with the people you’re working with to create solutions.”
Just like artful design has become indispensable to the economy, says Kang, collaboration and personal interaction have become emblematic of the millennial mindset.
“Our students have a desire to give back and build a pillar of social entrepreneurship, which taps into millennials’ motivations and desires,” says Kang. Emphasizing collaboration in school, through work that stirs imaginations, is a sure way to overcome shortening attention spans.
Millikan of LadyBits worries that creativity is being stamped out of the classroom. One middle school teacher’s willingness to immerse students in nature inspired Millikan to embark on an accelerated science track because she “could not stop consuming science knowledge and wanted to carve out a spot ahead of the rest of my peers so [she] could ensure a lifelong career in science and engineering.”
Today, imaginations must thrive, and minds must meet, for kids to grow up in — and create — a progressive world. By bringing technology to life in the classroom for all, marrying it with the humanities (STEAM), and demolishing the standardized transfer of facts that is the hallmark of traditional K-12 education, we can truly prepare this generation for a bright future.
