The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century is a best sellig book by Thomas L. Friedman analyzing the progress of globalization with an emphasis on the early 21st century. It was first released in 2005 and was later released as an "updated and expanded" edition in 2006.Wow!
He says in his introduction:
It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world - using computers, e=mail, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and dynamic new software.
It is not surprising that our schools are embracing the need to 'think globally' and adopt 21st century thinking in order to transform the learning experience for our students.
I was fortunate to spend a day working with the Year 4 team and the teacher librarians at Our Lady Queen of Peace primary, who are working hard to make significant 'digital shifts' in their pedagogy.
Human knowledge is complex and requires deep thinking - and sometimes a deep capacity to search, find, sort and synthesise information, viewpoints and knowledge. 21st century wisdom builds on all that came before. Our teachers are working to ensure that our students develop the capacity for 'enduring understanding' for 21st century wisdom.
An enduring understanding is a big idea that resides at the heart of a discipline and has lasting value outside the classroom. The teaching point for us is to ask to what extent the content standards and topics we are working with in our programs has learning opportunities for our students that are enduring and transferable big ideas, having value beyond the classroom?
Don't they say that a picture tells a thousand words?
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