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http://blogs.lib.ncsu.edu/krhughes/date/20081019 Sunday October 19, 2008

Are we using technology as a lifestyle rather than a tool? (Part 4)

Sometimes I feel like I am riding the fence on this topic. Last week I had decided that we pretty much had no choice but to accept technology as a lifestyle. After taking some time to absorb the material in ?The World is Flat,? by Thomas Friedman I am leaning back toward the importance of using technology as a tool. Friedman, states that the citizens of the US must develop higher lever skills in order to be competitive in our global economy. He mentions over and over how the lower end, mostly service jobs, have already been outsourced and we must educate our students to develop higher level skills. Because of this fact I believe that technology needs to be thought of as a supporting device to assisting students with the development of higher-end specialized skills. It is our analytical skills that we need to be honing, not just our ability to use technology. If we do not develop students who are critical thinkers and good problem solvers the world will just become flatter and the US will be drastically moved down the list of leading nations.

Posted at 02:02PM Oct 19, 2008 by Karen Hughes in General  |  Comments[1]

Comments:

Karen,
I agree that we must do more than just teach our students how to use technology. It is easy to learn to use a computer but then what? Students need to learn how to use it and what do with it. Critical thinking skills are really important and for me one of the most difficult things to teach. I have chosen this as on area I am going to work on for my IGP. I have a discussion on my blog about critical thinking skills and was hoping to get some responses from others about these skills and how they are teaching them. I also believe that if we don't teach our kids these skills, we are going to be left behind, if we haven't already been left.

Posted by Jennifer Cable on October 26, 2008 at 04:47 PM EDT #

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