Education: What kids want to change

Lookout Mr. and Ms. Principal. Your school will change, whether you like it or not.

The kids in Gen Y have spoken, and I think they're good on their word.  Gen Y, a very social conscious generation, has its list of Top 10 causes. And the number #1 issue?  Not hunger, not AIDs, not environment, not poverty - - it's Education. (Source: 2006 Cone, AMP Insights, reported in USA Today)

Say goodbye to the current school/college-as-factory folks.
Yes, Gen Y will tackle pollution, environment, health and disease issues, because world survival depends on them finding solutions. But they also will change Education because a post-industrial society depends on it. Go kids!

Comments

[Cyndi Pardee]

Hi Bill,

Thanks to you and all the Lern staff for a great conference. I always come home invigorated and exhausted.

I was reading a little article in today’s paper, and then heard it on the new radio station, about “Poverty Following Families to the Suburbs.” It says that the poor have been fleeing the inner cities and the suburban poor now outnumber the inner city poor.

Do you suppose the inner city poor are “fleeing” the cities, because so many cities are revitalizing their downtowns with pricey condos? So, of course, they can be close to light rail transportation, their work locations and cultural opportunities. Sounds like a “Shift” to me?

All of this data is coming from the Brookings Institute in Washington, Alan Berube was the co-author of the reports.

And … I was reading Fast Company in the plane coming home, and found an interesting article that might intrigue Wllie, if he’s a gamer. The article called “The Wisdon of Gamers - How many players does it take to balance the budge?” suggests that academics, politicians, lawyers,psychologists and marketers are beginning to recognize the wisdom of gamers as a vast untapped resource. Stanford did a study with them using video clips of medical samples and gamers were able to diagnose cancer at the same level as pathologists. J After only 20 hours of training.

You might want to check out the article online. I thought it was fascinating and might lead to amazing employment opportunities. What kind of certificate programs can we begin to build from this?