Digital is the new normal
Eighteen years. That’s how long it’s been since the 21st century began. Life has changed dramatically since 2001; Facebook wasn’t even an idea, Steve Jobs wouldn’t announce the iPhone for six more years and the movie Minority Report had yet to introduce the world to the touchscreens of the future. Before we even had an inkling of how rapidly the technology landscape would change, educators, policy makers and parents began to emphasize the need to better prepare our students for the 21st century.
Fast-forward eighteen years and touchscreens are now standard at fast-food restaurants, airports, parking meters and grocery stores. Words like cloud, java, texting and e-sports have new meanings while blog and emoji have become commonplace. Technological changes like these were merely dreams for most people two decades earlier. Which begs the question: How should we prepare 21st century students for the technological changes we can’t anticipate—the technology that will be commonplace 20 years from now?
continue reading »
