Neelie Kroes: More ICT in schools, please

DutchNews.nl, Monday 25 February 2013

ICT is underused in schools and the young are in danger of not being able to cope with the digital society, writes Neelie Kroes

The Royal Dutch Academy of Science recently added its findings to what is becoming a considerable stack of reports about a worrying lack of digital skills among students.

The Academy concludes that schools must incorporate compulsory digital skills in the curriculum. It will give future ICT workers a good basic knowledge but more is needed to prepare people for life in the digital society.

Status  

The Dutch educational system, to a large extent, still reflects a society dominated by status and hierarchy. Little attention is paid to individual talents and learning needs.

Society doesn’t only need eggheads but carers, builders and creators as well. Talent can surface in all sorts of ways and we shouldn’t measure each individual with the same tape measure. We have to stimulate other ways of thinking, not discourage it.

Hierarchical barriers  

Whether it’s the work floor or a joint development of open-source software, new technology is enabling us to break down hierarchical barriers. Traditional views on competition, control and secrecy are gradually being replaced by a culture of openness, collaboration and shared information. Modern entrepreneurs and businesses are adapting their business structures and welcome diversity. Isn’t it about time we shared these ideas with our children while they are young?

Schools have been slow to see what new technologies can do to improve education and adapt it to the individual needs of students. ICT is offering us a wealth of challenging new ways of teaching and learning. The founder of media theory, Marshall McCluhan, said those who separate education and entertainment don’t understand either. More than thirty years after his death and many technology generations later, this concept still hasn’t caught hold. Many schools use ICT but are far from profiting from its enormous potential.

Shortage

The world is changing rapidly. Europe is on the verge of a huge shortage of properly trained ICT workers. We need talented young men and women to fill the gap. If we want to lead in the field of knowledge and innovation we shouldn’t teach our children the skills their parents needed but those they will need in the future. The educational system has to become more flexible and diverse.

At the beginning of the last century people buying a Ford automobile could choose any colour as long as it was black. Is that what we want for our educational system or will we enable it to keep up with the new technologies of a changing world?

Neelie Kroes is euro commissioner for the Digital Agenda

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"THE OLD SOUL 2013 TOOLKIT" – Jan 13, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“ …   Attitude Adjustment (Social Networking, Internet, New Paradigm)

Let me talk about number three, attitude adjustment. Some of you are starting to put together some things that Kryon has said in the past. Years ago, I channelled information that has now come to fruition and now you can begin to understand it, but then, you did not. We gave you this phrase: "When everyone can talk to everyone, there can be no secrets." In your current Earth society, this has now become something called social networking. Even before this term existed, I told you about it. There would be a time on the planet when all could talk to all, instantly. Can you see how that would disarm old paradigms of communication? Do you see how that might disarm information that was incorrect? Do you see how that might disarm drama and untruth? When everyone can talk to everyone - this is what is happening!

So, technology has given you the beginning of something that some of you, especially the older ones, look at and don't want anything to do with. You say, "It's a fad of the young people." I want you to adjust your attitudes toward this. Let a young person show you what they can do and how many friends that they can talk to all at once, instantly. Let them show you what happens when they want to communicate something so they put it in a certain place and, suddenly, hundreds know instantly. It is a new paradigm of the way Human Beings are going to communicate.

I wish to tell you where that's going to eventually lead, for social networking has no borders. What happens when a young Israeli is talking to a young Iranian or a Palestinian about something they saw on their networking devices? The ideas fly across the borders in a way that they never could before. What happens to the intermingling of friends in a technical paradigm where hundreds talk to each other instantly, perhaps in a land where they never did before? The result? It will continue to create understanding about those they only have heard about or have been told about. Now they can see and hear them, and will know they all want the same thing! This is a new paradigm of communication, but more than that, it becomes the way of the future, where everyone can know everything accurately and almost instantly.  It will be one of the catalysts for peace on the planet.

There is more here than meets the eye, dear ones, and your attitude is everything. For if you look at all this and say, "Well, this is a fad, and is just for the young," if this is you, then you're missing it totally. Let a young person explain what they can do and let the light bulb go on in your mind, for the evolution of the Human species is here and this is never going away. If you don't like all this, then social networking is only going to get worse for you! We say that in a humorous and facetious way.

There will come a day when this will be the way of it in all things. It will be impossible to be a hermit. You'll always have more friends than you thought possible. These are the things we are asking you to look forward to, but it's going to require you to look at them differently and adjust. That was number three. …”

"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) – (Text Version)

“… The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification

Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.

I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy. For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?... "