As I read this, my husband's job comes to mind. He works for a major financial corporation. He is on the computer constantly; communicating with others, reviewing documents, preparing training materials, presenting information, etc. He sat in on a meeting last week and was asked to present information on a new program he is spearheading. He had not been asked in advance to present and was not prepared for the presentation. But he was familiar enough with the information and the technology he needed to share it effectively that he "winged it" successfully. That is what our students need to be learning. Not just content, but high-tech communication, creative and critical thinking, collaboration, "systems thinking", and innovation, among other skills. We teachers are really good at disseminating content, but not so effective at empowering our students to be thinkers and innovators. This HAS to change. My husband's job is much more typical than my profession. Contributing members of society today and in the future must be fluent in technology, collaboration and global awareness. Currently, our schools are not preparing them for this.
People in the world and workforce are exposed to so much information and so many media sources. The ability to sift through this is imperative. Those not fluent in modern media (read: typical teachers) are overwhelmed and become resistant. But Millennial students are so much more comfortable with this whirlwind of information that they CAN filter. We just need to help them figure out how. Which means we need to become fluent ourselves.
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