Challenges+for+the+World+in+the+Next+25+years-Pinkney

In the picture essay below I have demonstrated my response to the following three questions:

1.)What are the major global trends likely to have a significant impact on the lives of people during the next 25 years?

2.)What will be the characteristics required of individuals in order to cope with and manage these trends?

3.)How might these characteristics be developed? What approached, strategies, or innovations might best implement these characteristics?  In my opinion the world is going to be greatly affected by technology and global interaction in the next 25 years. Just think about it. Twenty-five years ago (1991), I was in kindergarten. We did not have computers in our classroom. I learned how to read through picture books. And we painted on an easel. We had a tape player that helped us to learn songs (mainly our ABC's). And everyone referenced a wristwatch when they wanted to know what time it was. No one mandated that we interact with other students around the world also. Today (2012), a kindergarten classroom is vastly different. At the current school I teach at, students learn how to read using Starfall.com and an Ipad. There are no more tape players, they have been replaced with Mac Notebooks and CD players. Students now have more resources to demonstrate their painting abilities through online resources and applications found on the Ipad. If you were to ask one of the teachers what time it was, they will probably refer to his/her cellphone. And, students can interact with other students from different countries via Skype. Times have change mostly due to technology, and this is the global trend that is going to significantly impact individuals’ live in the next 25 years—global interaction via technology.

In 25 years I believe individuals are going to have jobs in India by simply sitting in their living rooms or offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In other words, we are moving towards a global trend that does not require individuals to be “face-to-face” to complete a job. They can simply use a form of technology to complete this job. With this global trend I believe we are going to become more relent on technology to do jobs for us. Twenty-five years ago I would have never believed I would be paying bills through my phone's browser. Nor would I have believed that the internet would be my main source of listen to music. I actually believe that students will be able to take course online anywhere in the world. And will be able to interact with other classrooms around the world with no issues (well, expect if a solar flare decides to occur). This global change will require people to be more "technical savvy". I believe it will require more organizations to be more generous in donating computers to individuals, as well as, providing technology lessons to individuals. But more importantly, we need to have an open-mind to these changes. We will have to be accepting and flexible with more technology in our world.

As individuals we can develop these characteristics by taking the necessary steps to gain more knowledge about technology because it is going to be a trend that will dominate the world. Take a second to think about cellphones and how they have progressively entered into the hands and home of individuals around the world. At one point and time, individuals really did not need cellphones. There was not place on an application to list your “mobile phone number”. But, now it is almost a necessity for a lot of people. Almost as if, it was a force that invaded lives at the “snap of a finger”. And required us to develop our understanding of how to operate and use a cellphone. The same thing is going to happen with global interaction. We are going to have to “operate” in a world where global interaction via technology is going to invade our lives. Some schools are already taking this step by implementing global learning into the curriculum to prepare students for this global trend. This is a great initiative because as global learning is implemented more and more in schools; it will reach more and more generations of students who will be future adults in the world of global interaction.