Global Contexts and Forces of Education

- GLOBALISATION

Globalisation can be defined as a trend towards integrating the world markets for goods, services and money.

Globalisation is bringing together the world markets, developing multiculturalism in countries, increasing our access to information and also allowing us to be more easily affected by issues in other countries.

- DEVELOPMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY

“Each generation brings with it greater access to information. At the turn of the last century, print was the dominant form. Later, radio, film and television became important sources of information. Today has been described as the ‘information, knowledge or digital age’, where computers are a source of written, audio and visual texts from across the world.” (Bentley. I, 2012, p76)

Technology is continuously increasing and changing all over the world and influencing how we interact within society.

It is important for education to keep up with these trends and incorporate these new forms of technologies into the classroom and the curriculum, to prepare students for adult life and the workforce. “Education has often been labelled the most resistant profession in terms of its ability to take on change and look forward to the future.” (Bentley. I, 2012, p78) Nevertheless, current trends in education recognise the necessity to incorporate and embrace technology advances of the future.

Technology has been incorporated into the classroom in a number of ways, including; increased use of internet for researching, more computers and laptops for students, interactive whiteboards, ibooks replacing textbooks in some schools and even the use of mobile phones and apps. By including the use of technology in the classroom this helps to engage students in the learning process at a level that they can relate to and with the introduction of the National Curriculum next year there is an understanding that “we live in a digital age with rapid and continuing changes with ICT and that young people need to be highly skilled in its use.” (ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, accessed 1/10/12)

REFERENCES

Bentley. I, “EDU4CCE Changing Contexts in Education 2E,” Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd, 2012.

ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction accessed 1/10/12