Advances in technology have had a significant positive impact on the modern classroom. But, it has also become increasingly challenging to keep up with the pace of these technological advances. In order to meet society’s needs, the classroom and the very nature of what is taught in them will inevitably have to undergo some significant revisions. One such revision concerns our definition and understanding of what constitutes literacy and perhaps even what we understand by education.
A sound definition of what constitutes the “information age” is not easy to come by. However, a possible definition may be: the overabundance of information through digital media, made possible by the ubiquity and (relative) ease of access to the Internet and the World Wide Web. The most challenging aspect of the information age for classroom learners resides in managing the cast amount of information at their disposal. This is a relatively new phenomenon and one that distinguishes the modern classroom from those that precede it.
Navigating the plethora of digital information available on the Web is becoming increasingly more intuitive for younger generations. In contrast to previous generations, they appear more readily able to use new digital interfaces such as touch screens. In addition, they also seem to have a more natural affinity for the software that makes navigating the Web possible. For instance, they know where to click and understand how hyperlinks function.
However, navigating the Web is one thing, being able to manage the vast amount of information is entirely another. This is where educational institutions might be able to assist. The skills required to manage information are indispensable in the workplace and beyond. Being able to spell correctly is becoming less significant. (After all, there are digital means of checking spelling). What becomes more important is being able to trawl through, sift, select and organise vast amounts of digitally available information.
An education (in the “information age”) may translate into a series of skills that allow an individual to do precisely the functions I have just outlined There simply is no substitute for “deep understanding, experience and intuition” (Birkenshaw, 2018). In addition to these essential skills for the twenty-first century worker, I would also like to add some degree of computer programming. Already, schools have begun to introduce games designed to teach the very basics of programming language into the earliest stages of a learner’s intellectual development. These games are precursors to later programming classes.
I would imagine that the argument behind the “early start” at the fundamentals of programming is similar to the argument behind an early start for learning any language namely, that there is a critical age beyond which learning any language becomes increasingly challenging (Abello-Contesse, 2008). I for one support the introduction of programming into the academic school curriculum. Basic thought processes linked to computing such as the ability to analyse, and the ability to categorise, are indispensable as technology becomes more pervasive.
In sum, what we understand to constitute both “literacy” and an “education” certainly need to undergo a major revision as modern society moves beyond the influence of print media and into a new era of digitalization. As we progress along these lines, the classroom and what is taught will also need to undergo a revision. Of critical importance in these revisions is the primacy of the principles of programming and the ability to navigate and manage the overwhelming amount of digital information available in the World Wide Web and the Internet.
Some even suggest that we have moved beyond the “information age” into what can be called “the new information age” (Wadhwa, 2011)!
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References
Abello-Contesse, C. (2008). Age and the critical period hypothesis. ELT Journal, 63, 170-172. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccn072
Birkenshaw, J. (2018). Beyond the information age. Retrieved from
https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/06/beyond-information-age/
Wadhwa, V. (2011). The new Information Age. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/10/the-new-information-age/
chris clarke
July 30, 2018 — 4:52 pm
I think you’ve made some excellent points here about where the future of education may be heading. I think it links in quite well with a post I put up on digital literacy. In British Columbia, we have been in the process of implementing a new curriculum for K-12 students over the last number of years. Aside from the senior grades, the new curriculum is being taught across the province. In many ways it focuses on the concepts you were referring to. Students have access to so much information these days, it’s not so much about what facts they remember, but whether they are capable of properly searching for the information they need and can they distinguish useful information from the chaff.
This new curriculum is focusing more and more on the development of skills and inquiry based learning. The idea is that they may not know how the invention of photography affected the development of communication (like I did not before this course), but they are developing skills needed to navigate the overabundance of information available to them and synthesize an answer from it. To that end, I think the Ministry has been smart to create a K-12 Digital Literacy Framework (Province of British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2017) that will act in a similar manner to the “early start” method you have described for programming education. I’ve noticed that the students that are being introduced to this new curriculum halfway through their education career are struggling to adapt to this paradigm shift, but I’m looking forward to seeing our younger students coming up the ranks that have only known this method. Only time will tell I guess.
Province of British Columbia Ministry of Education (2017). Digital literacy. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy
kamille brodber
August 9, 2018 — 2:05 pm
While I agree with you that we have to prepare our students for the information age, one of the things I fear is that we will fail to pass on some of the relevant concepts and skills from previous generations. In my country, for example, we have seen several reviews of the national examination that is used to assess entry into secondary school. With each revision we seem to start completely from scratch without keeping the aspects of the previous examination that were valuable. It is critical that as we assess and take the necessary steps in preparing our students for the future, that we do not ignore our past but learn from it.
In your post you also mentioned the vast wealth of information that the information age has produced. I believe that teaching students how to sort through the myriad of information that they are being constantly being bombarded with is one of the most important skills for them to learn. We need to move away from the emphasis on content, which is simply a click away, to teaching them how to sort through all this content that is at their fingertips.
Preparing our students for the information age is indeed something that must be seen as a priority. As we have seen since the beginning of this millennium, technology changes occur quite quickly and frequently. Hardware and software that may have been very popular when a student was just entering high school may become obsolete by the time he/she is entering the world of work. It is therefore vital that we focus on the skills that will be necessary for students to thrive in this world of constant change. To this end I agree that we should start teaching the principles of programming and problem-solving at an early age.