Cool article by Ruth Mayhew: How Is Technology Impacting the Changes in the 21st Century Workplace?
21st century learning
CHANGING WORK PLACE RULES
Technology makes it possible to telecommute, work from virtual offices and communicate with businesses and individuals across the globe. Flexible work schedules are popular because so many duties and responsibilities can be accomplished from an employee's home or while the employee is traveling. The private sector initially became the test case for telecommuting arrangements, and the federal government followed suit in its attempt to be competitive with industry in attracting qualified candidates. Remote reporting relationships are also a factor of improved technology. Managers of team members who live and work in different cities, and even different countries is becoming more common.
COST OF TECHNOLOGY
As companies demand more sophisticated technology to help manage their businesses, the cost to develop and produce applications will likely increase. Customized programs that meet the specific needs of a business are becoming more popular as companies engage the services of functional and technology consultants. These experts can determine the type of solutions necessary to help the business run smoothly and efficiently. Companies such as SAP produce technology solutions for virtually every part of industry. SAP and similar firms routinely send to their clients functional consultants familiar with the type of business and technology consultants who know how to engineer the solutions.
TECHNOLOGY CAREERS
Careers in computer science and information technology continue to grow. Students in colleges, universities and technical institutes seeking careers in this industry will likely be recruited upon graduation. According to U.S. News; World Report, jobs in this field are among the top 10 careers, stating computer software engineers are in demand because;The work of designing, building, maintaining, and integrating those increasingly complex systems continues to be one the fastest-growing corners of the job market; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports indicate that occupations in computer science and information technology will add more than 785,000 new jobs from 2008 to 2018. Statisticians predict the technology field will expand exponentially because of the demand for state of the art technology products.
UDLAP is without a doubt, if not the first, one of the most prestigious univeristies in Mexico. We have bunch of stuff that no other university in the country has. We have international presence, a broad number of academic programs, a beautiful campus, and basically, a whole mini-city inside a relatively small space. UDLAP has taken charge of playing the role of an American university in Mexico, selling the image of being substantially different from a public-traiditional Mexican university. We have the best professors, an astonishing campus, tons of international students, SACS accreditation etc, etc, etc. So, if we don't wanna fall behind and stop being recognized by the world, we better continue copying what the real McCoy is doing. In some aspects, I think we are already there. We use e-mail or even facebook to reach our professors, most of us already know how to work online with our peers (even when we don't have the time to meet up as a team), we have almost stop using copies, since almost any important document a professor want us to read, can be found in his/her electronic portfolio; and basically, our academic life would be non-existent without a computer with Internet access, but is it enough? What other electronic resource can our university offer to improve education for students and professors? If you'd ask me, I'd say we're just fine, but the world seems to be heading somewhere else, perhaps we need more self-regulated activities, more online courses, or basically anything that make us more dependable on technology, 'cause obviously that is what we need... or do we?
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21st century learning goals
Why this film, why the UDLAP?
Spinning faster then never before, our globalized and technologically-rich world is making us adapt to a new reality where a computer and an Internet connection might be crucial to survive. We all remeber the good-old-fashioned-last-century professionals who rarely had a reason to use a computer and had no idea how the World Wide Web operated. Well, more than a decade has went by and nowadays, knowing how to use a computer and other technology-related devices, is almost as important as learning to read. This has obviously influenced every possible domain you can imagie, from your mom following Internet recepies, to the United Nations depending on a a broadband connection to fight Africa's famine. Long story short, technology in the 21st today is a vehicle that is helful in a myriad of situations. Wanna learn Latin? Wanna get a girlfriend? Wanna book a flight to the Arctic? Wanna make business with a guy from Liechtenstein? Wanna work from home? Wanna get a job? YOU GOT IT!
"IF WE WANT TO BE THE BEST WE MUST USE THE BEST"
Everything is changing and you better feel the same!
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GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Technology has a huge impact on globalization, it enables companies of all sizes to do business with customers all over the world. In addition, businesses can establish satellite offices in practically any country no matter how remote as long as there is Internet access. The competition for providing Internet access to developing nations will proliferate, enabling growth in areas previously deprived of business opportunities due to lack of communication devices. The other side of the coin is the international marketing of technology researched by George Washington University technology professor Robert W. Rycroft. He makes an interesting observation about multinational countries engaged in international marketing of technology products. This practice has been coined as technology exploitation. By this observation, it is the desire to push products that is creating wider globalization efforts instead of globalization efforts creating a need for advanced technology.
The question here is: Can technlogy change education?
Two interesting articles you may want to read.