What Knowledge is of the Most Worth

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What Knowledge is of the Most Worth?

• Yong Zhao, Ph. D
• University Distinguished Professor
• Director, US-China Center for Research on
  Educational Excellence
• College of Education
• Executive Director, Confucius Institute
• Michigan State University
• zhaoyo_at_msu.edu

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What knowledge is of most worth?--Herbert
Spencer, 1859http//www.gutenberg.org/files/16510
/16510-h/16510-h.htm
It must not suffice simply to think that such or
such information will be useful in after life, or
that this kind of knowledge is of more practical
value than that but we must seek out some
process of estimating their respective values, so
that as far as possible we may positively know
which are most deserving of attention.
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• Our first step must obviously be to classify,
  in the order of their importance, the leading
  kinds of activity which constitute human life.
  They may be naturally arranged into
• those activities which directly minister to
  self-preservation
• those activities which, by securing the
  necessaries of life, indirectly minister to
  self-preservation
• those activities which have for their end the
  rearing and discipline of offspring
• those activities which are involved in the
  maintenance of proper social and political
  relations
• those miscellaneous activities which fill up the
  leisure part of life, devoted to the
  gratification of the tastes and feelings.

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The global Globalization
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As electrically contracted, the globe is no more
than a village. Marshall McLuhan, 1964
Honey, I confided, I think the world is
flat. Thomas Friedman, 2005
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1492 about 3 months
2009 about 13 hours
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1858 17 hours
Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace and
good will toward men.
2009 less than 1 minute
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1927 65 (about 1,000)
3 minute phone call
2009 about 0.02
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By almost any economically relevant metric,
distances have shrunk considerably in recent
decades. The shrinking globe has been a major
source of the powerful wave of worldwide economic
integration and increased economic
interdependence that we are currently
experiencing. But the full implications of these
developments for all aspects of our lives will
not be known for many years. --Ben S. Bernanke,
chairman of the U. S. Federal Reserve 2006
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Diversity
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http//www.worldmapper.org/
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Its a Big Job to Make the Mini Global Supply
Chain
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Yao Ming and Herbert Hoover Global Trade of
Talents
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Today, Indian engineers make 7,500 a year
against 45,000 for an American engineer with the
same qualifications. If we succeed in matching
the very high levels of mastery of mathematics
and science of these Indian engineers an
enormous challenge for this country why would
the worlds employers pay us more than they have
to pay the Indians to do their work? They would
be willing to do that only if we could offer
something that the Chinese and Indians, and
others, cannot. --New Commission on the Skills
of the American Workforce (2007). Tough Choices
or Tougher Times
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When I was growing up, my parents told me,
Finish your dinner. People in China and India
are starving. I tell my daughters, Finish your
homework. People in India and China are starving
for your job. ---Thomas Friedman, 2005
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Over 10 million jobs lost due to automation in
last 10 years
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OutsourcingAutomation
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A New Hope
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The eBay Phenomenon Expanded Market
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Virtual marriage 2nd Life Socializing
virtually
Anshe Chung has become the first online
personality to achieve a net worth exceeding one
million US dollars from profits entirely earned
inside a virtual world. --Business Week, May,
2006
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Gold-farming and digital produce Digital
farmers market
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Real-money trade of virtual items (RMT) I
estimate the total worldwide RMT volume to reach
2,090M Virtual Economy Research Network
http//virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_rm
t_market_anyw
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YouTube and podcasting Everybody a Broadcaster
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Framework for 21st Century Learning (Partnership
for 21st Century Skills, 2007)

• Core Subjects (English, reading or language arts,
  World languages, Arts, Mathematics, Economics,
  Science, Geography, History, Government and
  Civics) and 21st Century Themes (Global
  awareness, Financial, economic, business and
  entrepreneurial literacy, Civic literacy, Health
  literacy)
• Learning and Innovation Skills (Creativity and
  Innovation Skills, Critical Thinking and Problem
  Solving Skills, Communication and Collaboration
  Skills)
• Information, Media and Technology Skills
  (Information Literacy, Media Literacy, ICT
  Literacy)
• Life and Career Skills (Flexibility
  Adaptability, Initiative Self-Direction, Social
  Cross-Cultural Skills, Productivity
  Accountability, Leadership Responsibility)

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The European Parliament and the Council of
European Union (2006)key competences necessary
for personal fulfillment, active citizenship,
social cohesion and employability in a knowledge
society

• 1) Communication in the mother tongue
• 2) Communication in foreign languages
• 3) Mathematical competence and basic competences
  in science and technology
• 4) Digital competence
• 5) Learning to learn
• 6) Social and civic competences
• 7) Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship and
• 8) Cultural awareness and expression.
• critical thinking, creativity, initiative,
  problem solving, risk assessment, decision
  taking, and constructive management of feelings
  are important across all domains.

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Daniel H. Pink (2005). A Whole New Mind Moving
from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age.
New York Penguin.

• Information Age
• L-Directed Thinking
• Sequential
• Literal
• Functional
• Textual
• Analytic

Asia Automation Abundance

• Conceptual Age
• R-Directed Thinking
• Simultaneous
• Metaphorical
• Aesthetic
• Contextual
• Synthetic

Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Can a
computer do it faster? Is what I am offering in
demand in an age of abundance?
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Essential Aptitudes in the Conceptual Age

• Design
• Story
• Symphony
• Empathy
• Play
• Meaning

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Across all the proposals

• Assumption 1 We must cultivate skills and
  knowledge that are not available at a cheaper
  price in other countries or that can be rendered
  useless by machines.
• Assumption 2 Creativity, interpreted as both
  ability and passion to make new things and adapt
  to new situations, is essential.
• Assumption 3 New skills and knowledge are
  needed for living in the global world and the
  virtual world.
• Assumption 4 Cognitive skills such as problem
  solving skills and critical thinking skills are
  more important than memorization of knowledge.
• Assumption 5 Emotional intelligence or the
  ability and capacity to understand and manage
  emotions of self and others are important.

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Feasibility

• Individual differences
• Nature
• Nurture
• The limitation of schooling
• Time
• Influence outside schools

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Therefore we need to move into niche areas where
they will not be able to completely replace us
for quite some time. ---Lee Kuan Yew, 2007
In the global economy, our students careers are
global. Where can they find employment depends on
their niche talents.
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• Our first step must obviously be to classify,
  in the order of their importance, the leading
  kinds of activity which constitute human life.
  They may be naturally arranged into
• those activities which directly minister to
  self-preservation
• those activities which, by securing the
  necessaries of life, indirectly minister to
  self-preservation
• those activities which have for their end the
  rearing and discipline of offspring
• those activities which are involved in the
  maintenance of proper social and political
  relations
• those miscellaneous activities which fill up the
  leisure part of life, devoted to the
  gratification of the tastes and feelings.

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Your Child's Strengths, Discover Them, Develop
Them, Use Them, by Jenifer Fox, M-Ed. (Viking,
2008) http//www.strengthsmovement.com/
The Strengths Movement
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Global Competences

• Culture Intelligence (CQ)
• Skills
• Attitudes
• Perspectives
• Values/identity
• Knowledge of the Globe
• Global economics
• Global problems
• Interdependence
• Languages and cultures

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Digital Competencies

• Living in the digital world
• Consumers
• Citizens
• Community leaders
• Making a living in the digital world
• Digital workers
• Global workers
• (Re)Creating the digital world
• Innovators
• Entrepreneurs

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The How of Learning
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Personalized Learning
the drive to tailor education to individual need,
interest and aptitude so as to fulfill every
young persons potential Department for Education
and Skills (UK), 2004
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Nine Gateways(Hargreaves, 2004)

• Curriculum More choices
• learning to learn Love and ability to learn
• workforce development PD
• assessment for learning Formative
• school organisation and design Structural
  changes
• new technologies
• student voice What do I want?
• advice and guidance
• mentoring Personal relationships

http//www.clusterweb.org.uk/docs/HargreavesPerson
alisedLearning.pdf
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Schools as Global Enterprises
Unique qualities Creativity, passion R-directed
thinking skills Global Competences
Global products
Global resources
Global staffing
Global market
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Never Send a Man to Do a Machine's
JobReconsider the Human-Machine Relationship in
EducationYong ZhaoMichigan State University
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Software's Benefits On Tests In Doubt Study Says
Tools Don't Raise Scores --The Washington
Post Major Study on Software Stirs Debate On
whole, school products found to yield no net
gains --Education Week
Test Scores Were Not Significantly Higher in
Classrooms Using Selected Reading and Mathematics
Software Products. --IES Study on the
Effectiveness of Computer Software
(2007) http//ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf
Readers are advised to scrutinize the findings
carefully, as even ED states that the study
'was not designed to assess the effectiveness of
educational technology across its entire spectrum
of uses. --CoSN, ISTE, and SETDA As this
study recognizes, proper implementation of
education software is essential for success.
Unfortunately, it appears the study itself may
not have adequately accounted for this key
factor, leading to results that do not accurately
represent the role and impact of technology in
education. -- The Software Information Industry
Association (SIIA)
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Why are we unhappy?
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What if?
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Are we sending a man to do a machines job?
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Reconstruct the Relationship

• Fragment the education process
• Treat technology as equals
• Do what you do best
• Let technology do its best
• Create technology to do what you dont want to do

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Input-based Accountability
Physical environment
Leadership
Learning facilities
Teacher quality
Student voice
Diverse opportunities
Global connections
Tolerance
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Yong Zhao, (2009), Catching Up or Leading the
Way American Schools in the Age of
Globalization, ASCDhttp//confucius.msu.edu