Discussing the 21st century skills and information society

I have been reading and viewing the material for the Edutech Boot camp. I have gotten a pretty good view of why mastering modern technology is important for a teacher. I especially liked the report on Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills (http://www.waldenu.edu/Documents/Degree-Programs/Full_Report_-_Dispelling_Five_Myths.pdf)

which are as follows:

* Critical thinking and problem solving 

* Communication 

* Collaboration 

* Creativity and innovation 

* Information, media and technology skills

* Life and career skills, such as flexibility and adaptability 

* Initiative and self-direction 

* Social and cross-cultural skills 

* Productivity and accountability 

* Leadership and responsibility 

Sounds very much like the 21st century work places, for which purpose we are training future employees. The society is definitely moving in this direction, and this trend can be seen for example in the job recruitment announcements. It is not enough to master the required skills, one must be cooperative, creative, efficient, initiative, besides having good social and linguistic skills and a good education. I mean in theory. Who masters all these skills? Maybe so AD's in the creative field? Well, that is a 21st century profession. Sometime the recruitment ads offer only the ideal and even utopistic image of what they are looking for. In the end, if you have the exact degree, you may get hired. Other valuable skills have no significance. Not even the work experience counts, without the degree. 

However, it is undeniable that people employ 21-st century skills more and more in the information technology society, just as we live in the postmodern times, and this has to be taken into account on every field. Ability to collaborate, I am currently reading a book called A Primer on Postmodernism by Standley J. Grenz (William B Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), and I was almost shocked to discover the resemblance: networking is important. Hierarchical structures have been replaced by a more decentralized, participatory form of decision making. We live in the global village. We are able to gain information from anywhere in the world almost instantly. (And for many purposes, we often do need to find this information).

While there is global consciousness, there is a simultaneous erosion of national consciousness. There is a broad awareness of cultural dicersity, as well as centerlessness of the postmodern ethos: in other words, there are no more common standards to morals, ideas, opinions, or lifestyle choices. While some become techonologically literate, other switch to escape the hectic life and its demands and opt for a slow life and move to countryside to grow their own vegetables in a wooden home that they warm by firewood and carry the water from the well. The universe has become a “multiverse”. How can a today's and tomorrow's teacher respond to this challenge? Is it enough to master the technology?