It is unlikely that anyone in the relatively free West doubts that we live in the age of information. A time when the world is fast becoming not just a global village but a global brain. The exponential growth of internet users has meant that never before in the history of the human species have so many of us had access to so much information. Any one with a laptop can get information on everything and anything from the worlds of entertainment, news, philosophy, psychology, religion, sociology, politics, environmentalism -the list goes on and is endless. So a question arises - Are our school systems becoming obsolete? Should we cease 'teaching' and start asking children, students and ourselves to find the answers to new questions? Is it time for a complete revision of the reasons why, how, where and when we educate ourselves?
Just like the human brain the internet is recording the world’s experiences and people are learning more and more about each other and themselves. This means that many of the old ways of living and working will be challenged as people start to seek new ways of being and behaving inspired by what they discover from others. One of the key revelations of the information age is that for every value, belief and idea that you hold there is an equally credible but differing and sometimes opposing value, belief and idea. We can no longer remain cocooned in a small world culture of the tribe.
In human beings the energy and intelligence behind evolution has shifted its focus as we take our first steps into the twenty first century. Unlike the biological evolution of the past which relied on random mutations and chance to adapt and survive we are experiencing an evolution of consciousness. We have now developed the capacity and capabilities to choose and direct our biology at the level of our DNA. Science is uncovering more and more of the mechanisms that govern creation with the result that people are living longer and healthier lives. But in today’s ever changing and unpredictable socio-economic environment we'll need a new worldview and with it a new way of educating ourselves.
In this fantastic TED video Sugata Mitra points to the way ahead.
