NSW HSC Online Professional Development Node
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Changes in society and education
Fundamental changes in society and education since the late twentieth century have resulted in a concern that teaching and learning in schools be focused on “learning to learn” skills rather than the acquisition of literacy skills in reading, writing and calculating. Previously it was not necessary to teach people to think and read critically or solve complex problems. These sorts of high literacy skills are required more and more in contemporary society. Technology itself has contributed to the changes in society by giving us immediate access to an enormous amount of information and allowing us to assemble, analyze, and communicate it in more detail and more quickly than ever before. Students need to be able to locate and use information rather than memorise it. They are required to develop high-order reasoning skills to solve complex real-world problems rather than learn rote responses within given environments. Research shows that using technology in teaching “encourages students to become problem solvers, and creates new avenues to explore information.” (Shelly et al. 
2001, p. 6.10)
More than ever, the sheer magnitude of human knowledge renders its coverage by education an impossibility; rather, the goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the intellectual tools and learning strategies needed to acquire the knowledge that allows people to think productively about history, science and technology, social phenomena, mathematics, and the arts. Fundamental understanding about subjects, including how to frame and ask meaningful questions about various subject areas, contributes to individuals’ more basic understanding of principles of learning that can assist them in becoming self-sustaining, lifelong learners.” (Bransford et al. 2000, p. 5)
The pace in which the world is continuing to change also makes it is difficult for many to define education in terms of specific information or skills – the world students will encounter when they graduate and the skills they will require may be radically different to those which they now possess. Skills demands for work have not only increased dramatically but also change rapidly as a result of an ever evolving work environment. Workers and organisations need to be able to respond to those changes in a timely fashion. Current trends in the workplace indicate that tomorrow’s graduates will have to continue training and retraining once they find a job. A US report states that it is estimated that 50% of all employee’s skills become outdated within 3 to 5 years (Report of the Web-Based Education Commission to the President and the Congress of the United States 2000, p. 8). The work-place training will often be in the form of web-based training workshops. Workers will also be required to continue to learn through formal education throughout their careers. Due to work and family commitments they will probably take advantage of flexibly delivered university or vocational diplomas. They will, therefore, need to develop the technical skills to learn in an online environment and the ability to learn how to learn so that they can continue to improve their knowledge and skills throughout their lives.
References:
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (eds). 2000. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. The National Academy Press. Washington, D.C. (Available online) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9853.html [19 October 2001]
Report of the Web-Based Education Commission to the President and the Congress of the United States. 2000. (online) http://www.ed.gov/offices/AC/WBEC/FinalReport/ [21 October 2001]
Shelly, G. B., Cashman, T. J., Gunter, R. E. & Gunter, G. A. 2001. Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Thomson Learning. Cambridge, MA.
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