Whether globalisation results in a “métissage” of cultures or the hegemony of one culture will depend on the analytical and social skills of those who make up our communities. The introduction of new technologies in education such as laptops, MP3s, and Ipods and the new concept of mobile learning require an examination of the teacher’s role in facilitating innovation, conveying culture, and acting as a conceptual translator. By modeling and teaching students critical and social skills, teachers can help tomorrow’s citizens to use the new flow of information to meet the challenges of globalisation.
TopAttitudes To Globalisation, New Technologies, And Education
Some depict globalisation as a kind of crusade, an épopée, a grand tale of actors. It is linked with the technological evolution of history, in which archaic resistance to opening up markets, states, and cultures has been overcome, and the right way of doing things has been revealed (Lessard, 1998). Others adopt a more critical discourse, and denounce the cult of adapting to the dominant trend (Petrella, 1997). They take a somber view of capitalism, seeing it as a source of social confrontation. For them, the discussion on globalisation requires that we reconsider old questions of equality, links between local and global forces, and frontiers between nations.
In Le Bien commun, Petrella (1997) argues that the past few decades have produced six new commandments. The new commandments are (1) globalisation, (2) technological innovation, (3) liberalization, (4) deregulation, (5) privatization, and (6) competitiveness. These terms are very familiar to us. They are increasingly present in governmental and educational discourse today. Indeed, the second commandment, technological innovation, is at the heart of many newly announced social changes. On this view, new information and communication technologies are to be integrated and resistance is not only futile but wrong, for they are the keys to achieving an information society.