As an educator who has had experience teaching people of all ages, not only teenagers but also adults, the most significant change that I have noticed is the increasingly rapid change in communication.
If I compare how my students and I are communicating compared to only five years ago, I have noticed that we now spend most of our time in front of our computers, emailing, blogging, messaging, researching and viewing, all on a platform that is connected with individuals around the world.
Although there are many things that have stayed the same, such as the structure of schooling at all levels, what is obvious is the knowledge and skills we need in the future will be very different to what we need right now. I have particularly noticed this in regards to social media and how much this platform is being utilised by government and non-government institutions, and businesses of all types, to interact with their audience. Gone are the days where we would need to get out there and find like-minded individuals or have to pay for expensive advertising to spread our message. This still exists but it is not the most influential way, and certainly not the most effective.
It is now a matter of becoming an active online voice, cultivating a social presence that connects with a "tribe," as espoused by Seth Godin, a leading marketer in his e-book Tribes (2011). He writes about how in order to be effective communicators in the 21st Century, particularly if we want to "lead, connect with or create a movement," whether it is for profit or non-profit, we need to be actively engaged online with our tribe - those who want or need to hear our message. Since writing Tribes he has been prolific in talking about the importance of lifelong learning as being pivotal to not only "surviving" in the future but to "excelling."
I think it is also too easy to say that the "millennial" generation or "Y" generation are already interconnected because all they have known is the Internet since they were born. I thought this when I first began teaching teenagers ten years ago but what I found over the years was that many did not have the experience of using the new technologies that I expected them to just "naturally" have. They would often protest in having to engage in online learning because of a lack of skills, most often compounded by inadequate access to technology within the school.
I think what is essential is having the awareness of the "new rules of the game." This was predicted over a quarter of a century ago by Kolb (1984). He highlighted how the "emerging "global village"" required educators to provide their students with "state of the art" skills in order to "stay abreast of events" - meaning that if students, regardless of who they are, do not acquire the skills they won't be preparing for the future, particularly a future that requires them to "re-learn" rather than stay in one field or perform to the "old rules of the game."
What I think needs to change, if we, as individuals, are going to be able to contribute in an increasingly interconnected world is how we view learning. I like the idea of seeing learning as continual and ever-changing. I agree with Kolb when he writes that learning should no longer be seen as just for "kids" but a "central lifelong task for personal development and career success (1984)." This includes learning to communicate in ways we can even not foresee.
How do you feel about the future of communication? Are you actively engaged online or are you interested in cultivating an online presence? I would love to hear your ideas on this.
References:
Godin. S. (2011). Tribes [E-reader version]. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vD4q8qj1dtkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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