The Technological Revolution

Part of the Grade 9 Social Studies curriculum in BC is teaching the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions.  While we were studying the Industrial Revolution, my students asked me "Did they know they were in the middle of a revolution?"

I posed the question to my students: "Do you know that we are in the middle of a revolution right now?"  They were a little confused, so I asked them what kind of revolution they thought we might be in.  I set them into pairs to discuss and I started seeing some students pull out their phones.  Some were off topic and texting or snapchatting each other, but some started Googling "What revolution are we a part of in 2014?"

As they came back together, I asked again "What 'Revolution' will students in a hundred years look back and study about our time period?"

There was a general consensus that we are in the middle of a Technological Revolution.  I pointed out that when I was in school (which wasn't too long ago, I might add!), almost nobody had cell phones, and the phones that were around couldn't connect to the Internet or do anything more than make a phone call.  The fact that 75% of my 9th grade class is walking around with a miniature computer in their pockets is a revolutionary idea that few would have been able to fathom when I started school!

I saw this infographic today, and it gave me some things to think about.  The most interesting piece of information to me is that "65% of grade school children will have jobs that haven't yet been invented!"

This definitely has me reconsidering the way I teach some of my classes, and wanting to incorporate mobile technology more frequently into lessons.

If you use mobile technology in your classrooms, I'd love to hear about what you do in the comments below!



(And one more picture that I saw on Facebook this morning and appreciated!)