Colleges Should Educate Students to Compete in Global Technologies

Dr. Jon Larson Published in the Asbury Park Press on 02/3/06
BY JON LARSON

Thoughtful examination of the subject of global technology is crucial for all educators, not only as it affects our colleges and schools, but as it affects our lives, our communities, our society and the future of our children.

If you have not yet read Tom Friedman's book "The World is Flat," let me recommend it as a stunning portrait of how digital technology is recolonizing the world. The convergence of globalization with the explosive advances in digital technologies has, in a historic instant, changed our world in ways some of us cannot even imagine but must, nonetheless, integrate into our lives and into the way we live those lives.

As Friedman notes, whenever fundamental change occurs in human systems like the rise of the nation state or the Industrial Revolution our whole world changes profoundly. But, he adds, "there is something about the new technological change that is going to be qualitatively different from other such profound changes: the speed and breadth with which it is taking hold. . . . And that is why the great challenge of our time will be to absorb these changes in ways that do not overwhelm people, but also do not leave them behind."

Friedman refers to this change as "flattening the world." He describes it as a horizontal and collaborative way to do the world's business, very different from the vertical hierarchies of most of the capitalist structures of the 20th century. The great challenge to America, as it is to all the other nations, is to stay competitive without sacrificing the safeguards and protections that we as a nation hold sacred. This is a challenge to every institution in our society, not the least of which is the institution of education and the schools, colleges and universities that comprise it.

As I try to apply some of the global analyses of Friedman's book to our local circumstance and specifically to Ocean County College, I am persuaded the following three ideas need to have currency, not only in our general awareness but also in our vision, our strategic planning and our day-to-day operations:

First, we need to be aware of the multiple new paths open to us in the delivery of learning opportunities for our students. Not only do we need to consider the array of distance-learning venues made available by the new technologies and the combinations of learning options that combine traditional delivery with digital resources, we must also look to global linkages, training opportunities, collaborations, virtual practices and new specializations that will further prepare our students for this century's realities.

Second, we need to be aware that America is failing to produce the number of scientists and engineers that soon will be needed to provide the brainpower in the digital world. The National Science Board recently reported the number of Americans who receive science degrees has fallen to 17th in the world (we ranked third 30 years ago). Science and engineering degrees now represent 60 percent of all bachelor's degrees earned in China as contrasted to 31 percent in the United States. Factoring out the science degrees, 46 percent graduate with engineering degrees in China, while only 5 percent graduate with engineering degrees in the United States. Even though China is playing catch-up, it will not be long before the relative numbers will shift.

So, we must be alert, encouraging our students toward math, engineering, science and computer science learning. We should also be training our students to be good, enthusiastic learners so they are prepared to participate in the kind of continuous training required in a flat-world society where lifelong employment probably won't mean a single lifelong job.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, we all need to think about the five action themes that Friedman advocates in this age of transition. He calls upon all Americans to consider the following, both to maximize the benefits and provide the necessary protections in the flat world era:

Elect political leaders who understand the flat world.

Press the government to forge tools that will guarantee employability for all, creating legal and institutional frameworks for pension and health care portability, as well as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid stability.

Investigate new systems that will provide legitimate wage insurance.

Consider collaborations between social and environmental issues and corporate issues, seeking win-win solutions to potential moral conflicts.

Find ways to develop strategies for a new generation of parents who can work to prevent the socially disruptive shock of the flat world.

As Friedman tells us: On such a flat earth, the most important attribute you can have is creative imagination, the ability to be the first on your block to figure out how all these enabling tools can be put together in new and exciting ways to create products, communities, opportunities and profits. That has always been America's strength because America was, and still is, the world's greatest dream machine.

At the local level here on the Jersey Shore, we have the ability and the energy for just this type of creativity. Armed with awareness and skill, we can be what we need to be for our students. We can be their dream machine.

Jon Larson is president of Ocean County College, Dover Township. This was adapted from his Address to the College Jan. 18, 2006.

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