Information Age Education Blog

“There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.” (Henry Louis “H.L.” Mencken; American journalist, essayist, editor; 1880-1956.)

I am a regular reader of New Scientist, a weekly British magazine that covers a wide range of science-oriented topics. I think it is a very good publication. The following short article is quoted  from the In Brief section of a recent issue (New Scientist, 6/6/2018). It provides a frightening glimpse into the growing artificial intelligence capabilities and possible uses of computers.

The title of a recent article by Cassie Walker Burke caught my eye: Three Out of Four Illinois Kids Aren’t Ready for Kindergarten. Why That’s a Problem  (Burke, 8/13/2018).

Here is a key quote from the article:

I was recently corresponding with one of my long-time math education friends, and I decided to formulate a math education question that I thought would be fun to discuss. This IAE Blog entry is based on the question I asked my friend:

When you look back over your long career in math education, what changes have you seen in math education that you feel have been particularly successful (good) and particularly unsuccessful (not-good)? (Moursund, 2018b).

From time to time I encounter an article that provides valuable insight into how computer-based automation is affecting employment throughout the world. Here is a recent example of an article about the Swedish banking industry. Quoting from (The Download, 7/30/2018):

Casper von Koskull, the CEO of Sweden based Nordea Bank, predicts that the banking industry will slice its workforce in half over the next 10 years. Last year, Koskull announced his company would cut 6,000 jobs in favor of automation.

The world faces changes in employment patterns being brought about by continuing progress in technology. The table given below presents (rank ordered) desirable university graduate job skills in Europe (Pathak, 2/11/2016). Since there is a steady increase in worldwide competition to hire highly qualified college graduates, such lists tend to be useful to employers throughout the world. They also are of interest to students and educational systems throughout the world.

As I looked at these two lists, I noticed that there is considerable change from what employers were looking for in 2015, and their more recent thoughts on what they are looking for in the near future. Employers hiring university graduates are looking for smart, well-educated employees who have a track record of having the ability to learn new things and make creative use of their brains to solve complex problems.