Challenges

"Challenges of Our World in the Next 25 Years." There are many major global trends likely to have a significant impact on our nations during the next 25 years. These include but are not limited to advances in technology, innovative jobs, lack of some natural resources, changes in the education of teachers, and school curriculum. Technology is certainly becoming more a part of our lives every day. We rely on it to communicate, research, and to solve problems. Even though everyone may not have the same access to technology the trend is certainly moving toward the use of technology and changing our daily lives. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the number of cell phone subscribers worldwide hit 5 billion in 2010. In addition the introduction of the IPad and Kindle have researchers projecting shipments of tablet computers reaching106 million worldwide in 2012. This number represents a 54% increase from devices shipped in 2011 according to one of the leading marketing research groups, IDC. The increase in demand for the latest most innovative technological devices will lead to changes in our personal lives, schools, workplace, and environment. First technology has changed our personal lives. Blogs, tweets, texts, Facebook and other social media sites have made our personal lives more interactive with society. Some people already actually spend more time communicating through electronics rather than face to face interaction. I see this as a growing trend in the next 25 years. Secondly, schools have already begun adding more technology such as wikis, prezis, glogster, and voice threads as part of their instruction and student presentations. In addition, some schools have taken the initiative for students to interact with students in other countries to work on interactive projects. In the next 25 years schools will need to expand their current curriculum to include technology on a daily basis as a tool for instruction, research, and projects. It will be essential for schools to expand the curriculum on a global level that deals with current and real issues that affect people worldwide and have students collaborate with other students around the world to solve problems. Furthermore, teachers will need to have international experiences and be well trained in how to use technology in the classroom. Schools will need to require that students speak more than one language, as is the case already with the schools in China. With all of these new technologies the job market will change. In the next 25 years our dependency on fuel will most likely decrease as we begin to rely more on electricity and battery operated mechanics. This will lead to new jobs but one of the downsides to this is that a new problem will arise. What will we do with electronic waste? How will we recycle it to preserve our environment? Also, as our natural resources continue to decrease we will need to work and collaborate with others worldwide to come up with solutions to preserve our natural resources. Individuals will need to be problem solvers, communicators, and open-minded. In addition, they will need advanced skills in technology, be well educated in worldwide issues, and be able to respect the perspectives of others from different cultures. These characteristics can be developed and implemented in our schools. Kindergarten students in today’s classroom will be our 30 year old adults in 25 years. If they are taught how to use technology, taught about diversity through instruction, research and international interaction with other students, and learn to collaborate to solve real issues they will be more prepared for the job market. Other factors that will prepare our students in the next 25 years will be second languages, immersion in other cultures, and advanced science and math curriculum that are interconnected with the changes in our environment and society.