One + June 2011 - (Page 16)

THE 19 Part I: Changes in Human Capital BY ROBERT STEELE 20 There are two major demographic trends that must be studied by all who are responsible for human capital: the emergence of the digital natives—Generation Z—the first generation to not be a “mini-me” of the traditional 1950s adult; and the emergence of the five billion poor at the bottom of the pyramid whose annual disposable income is four times that of the one billion rich. MARC PRENSKY FIRST ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF EDUCATORS, employers and policy officials in 2001 with his pioneering two-part article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” published in On the Horizon. In 2005, he expanded on the original theme—that children growing up with modern information technology are fundamentally different from previous generations of learners and employees—and published “Engage Me or Enrage Me” in EDUCASE Review. This was the beginning, in my view, of the latest war for the soul of education. On one side are all those who are committed to rote instruction, education and what one author—award-winning educator John Taylor Gatto—calls Weapons of Mass Instruction (2008). On the other side are an emergent combination of home-schooling advocates, advocates of the pedagogy of freedom, child psychologists and concerned employers who point out that today college graduates are coming to their first job with skill levels that in the past were expected from high school graduates. There has been a dumbing down of education, at least in the U.S., but at the same time, digital natives are a breed apart—and somewhat significantly, coincident with the hacker ethic of exploration and the hacker capacity to discover, develop and penetrate. In one of Prensky’s first books, he focused on self-learning, and many of his findings have since been confirmed by others. One extraordinary TED video shows Prof. Sugata Mitra explaining in the most compelling terms “the childdriven education.” 21 24 27 Scan this tag with your smartphone to watch Prof. Sugata Mitra’s TED Talk on “the child-driven education.” 28 16 one+ 06.11

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + June 2011

One + June 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Paradigm Shifts, Part I
Ask the Experts
Agenda
Web Watch
Thoughts+Leaders
Overheard
Recognizing Individual Excellence
Sound Off
Art of Travel
River Mason
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
Plan It Forward
Great Thanking
Running on Defaults
The New Mobile Workforce
World Wide Open
Higher Education
Progress Through Technology
Step by Strategic Step
Meeting Rxcitement
Tame Social Media Chaos
Meeting Against Meat
Re-Designed for the New Rules of Engagement
Industry Insights
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + June 2011