Thomas Friedman and the Flattened World
MIT is hosting a free streaming video of a presentation by Thomas Friedman. He is the author of the best-selling book The World is Flat, and in this video he covers the main ideas of this provocative book. He looks at how the convergence of a variety of technologies has “flattened” the world economy, allowing companies and individuals in other countries to compete with countries like the United States in ways that were never before possible.
It’s a great presentaion, and should be required viewing for just about anyone involved in education. I particularly like his emphasis on innovation as a key skill. Where is that in our curriculum right now? For that matter, how can teacher teach innovation if they aren’t allowed to innovate themselves? I think educational standards provide a foundation for kids to learn to innovate, but if we just stop at the standards, our kids will be ill prepared for the economy of our very near future.