"The global economic playing field is being leveled....American's are not ready"--quoted by a man he interviewed. I thought this was one of the most powerful things in his speech, of course this lead to the book completely so that is probably why. How many of us believe that because we are from America we will be "safe." Safe from competing jobs, safe from being stripped of the dominating world power, and safe from being too far behind in technology. Friedman's speech proved this wrong, people everyday around the world have the opportunity, advantage, and the means to pull ahead in the global market and (gasp) BEAT the US in something. How dare they?!
This is going to change our world, of course. I think that the "flattening" of the world will be a major event in history. What defined the Industrial Revolution? Inventions, technology, making things available to everyday people. This is what the Flat World is doing, we are giving more people the opportunity to have technology in their possession; which leads to more people having jobs in technology advancement which leads to more technology. I'm a social science major, I love processes like these, we are LEARNING from history people! There are updates from Apple all the time, just last week they announced the iPhone 4s....not the 5 everyone expected--was it a disappointment? Yes, it was for people who wanted the iPhone 5, but will millions of people still buy it? Of course, it's new and shiny--everyone wants to have the next big thing.
I love that Friedman referred to traveling East. As a future history teacher I think this is significant, people in my generation are less likely to have a negative view of the East but in our history the East has not excelled in things. I mean there are jokes about Russia being slow at everything right? Except for that darn space thing...we'll never be able to let that one down. This can't be the case anymore, they have the access to the same things we do--the playing field has been leveled. People we wouldn't expect are competing with the US and the Western countries.
As an educator it is important to remember this for my students. Not only will we be able to access things easier, so will the students. It is so easy to Google a topic and get to see the topic from the perspective of a student in that area. In my field experience I just taught a lesson the Islamic faith, I'm a Christian--I have very limited knowledge about the Islamic faith. It is important for my students to understand different cultures, I need to break down those barriers because they could be working with these types of culture in the future. Breaking down the barriers, flattening their world to make it easier for them to transition into the real world. They need to see us using the resources that are available to them. Don't waste the projector and Internet connection sitting in our classrooms, Skype with someone, get online and research a topic together, do the process with them!
I think that the effects of a flattened world are things we cannot even imagine. We are preparing our students for jobs that don't exist, how much pressure is that?! The students we are teaching today will be the next innovators in technology, and these kids are digital natives. They won't understand the impact that they are going to have on the world. I think of the Braid Paisley song, "Welcome to the Future" and how it is "no, big deal" to have these fancy things now, but really it is a big deal!
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