Web2.0 - Rethinking our Schools

In the videos "Shift Happens" and "Pay Attention", the basic premise is that we are educating kids for jobs that will be substantially changed from their current state, if indeed they have even been invented yet.

My initial reaction is...duh!  Is this supposed to be the shock that it seems to be?  When engineering students were entering college shortly after WWII did they have any inkling that they'd be designing jet aircraft for a completely revolutionized air travel industry?  Or that they could be designing components used in the Apollo moon shots, or, or, or?  It seems to me that this has been the state of things for quite some time...the only change recently is the proliferation of trade agreements and communication technology that has made this flow of information and development much more rapid.

The main focus of education should then be on developing critical thinking skills, rather than imparting a broad base of static knowledge.  For example, take my iPhone.  When I bought the thing shortly after its release two years ago, I simply lost the ability to say "I don't know."  (Much to the chagrin of my wife, I can assure you...)  Any information I could possibly want or need is literally seconds away, and with Google Maps, Google Search, and the whole internet in my pocket, I simply cannot offer that excuse anymore.  What it has forced me to do, however, is sharpen my critical thinking skills, and anything I pull up I must pre-screen: 

• Is this valid?
• Is it accurate?
• Is it biased?

Fortunately, I had incredible teachers and professors who took the time to hone this skill in me, so I do it automatically, instantly, without hesitation.  I don't need to know copious amounts of trivia (although, with my memory's penchant for it, this is lamentably unavoidable), but I do need to know what to do with the information I can get my eyes on.

This, then, is the primary way in which I feel education has changed with the advent of the internet.  No longer is knowledge static.  What students need to be able to survive in such a rapidly changing environment are the tools that enable ready adaptation.