Originally published on December 01, 2012.
This weekend we are hosting the first annual Google Apps for Education India Summit. The 250 participants, from 14 countries, are spending an intense weekend on our elementary campus focusing on deploying, integrating, and using Google Apps for Education to promote student learning. In this morning keynote address, Head of Google Enterprise Education Mr. Suan Yeo addressed several issues regarding education in the 21st century. At one point in Yeo’s address, he shared his “10 Things Students Won’t Need to Know When They Graduate.” I wasn’t fast enough on my iPad to catch all 10, but here are the 6, I captured, and two follow up questions:
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How to Use a Mouse: No high school senior in 2020 will use a computer mouse
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Memorizing MLA and APA Style Requirements: Open source programs and sites provide easier and better ways to achieve the correct style.
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How to Find Reference Materials in the Library: Skills necessary to make the libraries of the 21st century useful are very different than picking up a reference book and thumbing through it.
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Developing Film and Taking the Perfect Picture: Education is no longer about how to take the perfect picture, it’s about responsible use of images and how to judge which of the thousands of pictures we take are good ones.
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The Propaganda Techniques Used in 30-second TV commercials: are being replaced with incredible new ways of developing brand recognition and customer loyalty.
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How to Read a Paper Map:The density of GPS units and the accessibility to them has made this obsolete.
Here are my two questions. Please respond if you feel so inclined:
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What else should be on this list?
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What are you worried will end up on this list and shouldn’t?
I will close with another quote from Mr. Yeo.
I think the keyword in his quote, and the word that saved his credibility with an audience of teachers, is “only.” We all know that there are some resources and skills that are eternal. Finding out which ones should stay and which ones should go, as an educator and a parent, is the tough but important and fun part.
I look forward to hearing from you.