Working Together 4 Teachers - Recently Updated Pages

Book Discussion

pmelling — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:19:15 CDT

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

I would encourage you all to check out The Flat Classroom Project web site. This is an actual class project that Jason found. Each class, from two different countries, is reading "The World is Flat" and have wiki projects to do in conjuction with that reading assignment.

NOTES:

Chapter 1 - While I Was Sleeping - Jason

Chapter 2 - Ten Forces That Flattened the World - Deanna, Elaine, Paula

Chapter 3 - The Triple Convergence - Graci

Chapter 4 - The Great Sorting Out - Chad

Chapter 5 - America and Free Trade

Chapter 6 - The Untouchables - Graci

Chapter 7 - The Right Stuff - Deanna

Chapter 8 - The Quiet Crisis

Chapter 9 - This Is Not a Test

Chapter 10 - The Virgin of Guadalupe

Chapter 11 - How Companies Cope

Chapter 12 - The Unflat World - Marcia

Chapter 13 - Globalization of the Local-Paula

Chapter 14 - The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention

Chapter 15 - 11/9 Verses 9/11

Chapter 13 - Globalization of the Local

pmelling — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:02:12 CDT

This is chapter 13 in the 2.0 version of the book. This chapter was concerned with the fact that globalization would have an American face, an American look, and American taste. Friedman contends that while the flat-world platform has the potential to homogenize cultures, it also has greater potential to nourish diversity.
The flat-world platform lets you upload your own culture to the world. It is like pizza dough. Different cultures can season and flavor it to suit themselves. It also lets people stay in their own culture without having to emigrate to innovate.The global platform allows us to use multiple forms of sharing work, knowledge, and entertainment.

Google, is available in 116 different languages. The flattening of the world brings more radio, more phone, more travel, more trade. The newest use is podcasting to share our local culture.

I liked the quote from Wang, "We have different songs [than Americans] and we want to express different things, but the desire the the same. We all want to be seen and heard and be able to create stuff we like and share it...People from all over the world will draw knowledge and inspiration from the same technology platform, but different cultures will flourish on it. It is the same soil, but different trees will grow."

Home

dstall — Tue, 22 May 2007 10:37:01 CDT

Announcements:

Virtual book discussion! Thanks to everyone for participating in this little book project. We aren't finished yet! Marcia has left some notes for us on chapter 13 but we still need chapters 14 & 15. Check it out!

Those of you with book version 1.0 need to check out book version 2.0! We just discovered that Chapter 6 in the new version is more conprehensive and LONGER than that in version 1.0. Also, Chapter 7 in 2.0 is a brand new chapter and is NOT in version 1.0 at all. Please make sure you know that so you aren't confused on the day of discussion!

Check out the following article from Edutopia. This discusses the changing world of education as we discussed this morning. http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1546&issue=jun_06

Check out these pages! Also, feel free to add to them! WIKI-UP!

What other pages should we add? Are there other topics we need to devote space to?

Chapter 12 Notes

mcarmann — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:01:57 CDT

Chapter 12 is titled “The Unflat World: No Guns or Cell Phones Allowed”. In a speech in New York on April 4, 2005, Thomas Friedman gave the following summary of the chapter. In his words:

“I do have a chapter that’s very important to me. It’s called The Unflat World, in which I make very clear: Don’t worry. I know the world is not flat. Don’t worry. And not only do I know that it’s not flat, I know that the vast, vast majority of people on the planet, are still yet to be able to ‘connect and collaborate.’ And I basically, in that chapter, go through what I think are the main communities, who are not able to “play” in this world. I still think it’s the job of the analyst to define when he sees a critical mass of new trends coming together, to define those trends. And that’s why I have used this term, The World is Flat. I use it obviously, with great literary license. I think it is going be the biggest and most important trend shaping economics and geopolitics coming forward. But don’t worry. I understand that the world is not flat. And that millions and billions of people, are not able yet to “connect and collaborate.” I

break that chapter up into four groups. The first I call the “Too Sick,” which obviously are all those communities around the world, in the grips of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other disease, who are simply “too sick” to take part. And I talk about basically, “collaboration” as it applies to them.

The second group I call the “Too Disempowered.” These are, in many cases, I like to think of rural India, rural China. These are people who are more “half flat,” in the sense that they have been to Bangalore, they have been to Beijing. They have actually seen some of the “upside” of this world. They want it, but they do not have the tools. They do not have the tools of governance or economics, the simple tools to basically enable them to take part. And I basically talk about, what that means, and how we can think about getting them these tools.

The third group I call the “Too Frustrated.” And that is the Arab Muslim world. One of the things that happens when the world goes “flat,” is you get your humiliation fiber-optically. You get it at 56K, right in the face. You see just where the caravan is, and just where you are. And you cannot understand 9/11, without understanding the role of humiliation, and the degree to which it was intensified, by the “flattening of the world.”

The fourth basic sort of “unflattener” the chapter is about, is simply called “Too Many Toyotas.” When three billion people walk onto the “flat world,” and the Indian dream and the Chinese dream is the same as the American dream, where it’s a house, a car, a toaster and a microwave, there will be a serious energy shortage. If we don’t find an alternative source of energy, we are either going to burn up this planet, or we are going to find ourselves in a war with China and India over natural resources.”

Workshop Tips & Tricks

dstall — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:51:46 CDT

Today I tried the ABC review in my Excel training. I had a very cooperative group. I just assigned them each a letter. On a sheet of paper, I had them write down or drawn the letter and a concept that they learned or that we talked about today. Then I had them hang them on the wall in the back. I had each participant tell about theirs in alphabetical order. It was nice quick review for those who hate playing games in workshops.

Deanna (3.14-07)

Chapter 7 - The Right Stuff

dstall — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:45:06 CST

How do we know if America has what it takes to be a leader in the new world, in the new middle?

1. Learn how to learn
2. Passion & Curiosity

CQ + PQ > IQ
"Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid."
Love kids.
Can't light a fire unless you have a fire inside.
If you can't feel the music, you'll never be able to play the music.

3. Good at managing or interacting with other people

People skills are more valuable than computer skills p. 306

4. Nurture your right brain

Right brain is context, emotional, expression, synthesis
Forge relationships rather than executing transactions, tackle novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, synthesizing big picture rather than analyzing a single component.
foreigners can do left brain work cheaper so we need to focus on right brain work
high concept and high touch - High concept is the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty to detect patterns and opportunities to craft a satisfying narrative and come up with inventions. High touch is capacity to empathize to understand subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one's self and illicit it in others, to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.
Do something you love; that is intrinsically motivating.
Georgia Tech Computer Program (p.311 - 315)

Nine Threads
"Schools need to embed these tools and concepts of collaboration into the education process"
"It has to run through the whole curriculum. It can't be a single course otherwise we will never nurture a high enough percentage of the population to be competitive."

5. The Right Country

We have flexible deregulated free market economy with lots of experimentation and competition between states and universities
We have willingness to tear down and rebuild
We have a network of research universities; inventions

we have an efficient way of taking ideas and turning them into products and services
we have the stock market to support businesses
we have openness
we protect intellectual property
we have flexible labor laws
we have the largest domestic consumer market
we have political stability

This translates to TRUST! We trust our currency, the our innovations are protected, and our justice system. Trust in these propels innovation!

p. 316 - "You [Americans] have all the things you need to get your people from the old middle to the new middle," said Nandan Nilekani of InfoSys. "If you get through this transition first, you will be kinds of the hill...[But] if people lose their nerve and protectionists come along and start building walls, you will [fail]. it is an act of faith - you have to believe that it will happen."

p. 322 - "Put all the above together and you have America's secret sauce - a mix of institutions, laws, and cultural norms that produce a level of trust, innovation, and collaboration that has enabled us to constantly renew our economy and raise our standard of living. There is nothing about the flat world - nothing - that Americans cannot handle, as long as we roll up our sleeves, educate our young people the right way for these times, and tend to and enrich the secrets of our sauce. So are we doing that? That what the next two chapters are about. But let me give you a hint: the answer is no."

Chapter 6 - The Untouchables

ggillmin — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:18:22 CST

Finding the New Middle

Friedman poses the question: What do we tell our kids about job opportunites in their future? He follows with:

Every young American today would be wise to think of himself or herself as competing against every young Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian. In Globalization 3.0, individuals have to think globally to thrive, or at least survive.

Friedman himself states that he has to understand how he needs to compete and he must have the skill set required to work at a pace that fits the supply chain.

When he was young his parents told him "Tom, finish your dinner - people in China and India are starving." His advise to his daughters is, "Girls, finish your homework - people in China and India are starving for your jobs."

In a flat world, people in any country can have any job, because in a flat world there is no such thing as an American job. There is just a job, and in more cases than ever before it will go to the best, smartest, most productive, or cheapest worker - wherever he or she resides.

The New Middle

In order to thrive, students will have to learn to do the right kind of homework. Students will have to fundamentally reorient what they are learning and educators how they are teaching it.

The key to thriving in the flat world is to make yourself an "untouchable." Untouchables are people whose jobs cannot be outsourced, digitized, or automated; i.e. fungible.

Available technology (transportation & communications) largely determines which goods and services are easy to trade internationally and which are hard or impossible to trade.

Untouchables

Special or specialized

special - Michael Jordon, MaDonna, Elton John
specialized - brain surgeons,

Localized & anchored

know specific knowledge
face-to-face - barber, chefs, plumber, nurses, clerks, repairmen, cleaning ladies, divorce lawyers

"Old Middle"

middle class jobs - from assembly line to data entry to securities analysis to radiology
new middle jobs are coming into being all the time that require certain skill sets that make you special - temporary.

The New Middlers

Great Collaborators and Orchestrators

with and between companies
providing 24/7/7 supply chains

The Great Synthesizers

Mash-ups - where you just mash together two different Web-based tools, Google maps & real estate

The Great Explainers

who can see the complexity but explain it with simplicity
if you can explain the complexity well, you can see the opportunities better

The Great Leverages

Combing the best of what computers can do with the best of what humans can do, and then constantly reintegrating the new best practices the humans are innovating back into the system to make the whole - the machines and the people - that much more productive.

The Great Adapters

Versatilists - apply depth of skill to a progressively widening scope of situations and experiences, gaining new competencies, building relationships, and assuming new roles
constantly learning and growing
Be an expert on 3 topics, but know that those three topics will always be changing.

Chapter 5 - America and Free Trade

dstall — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:16:47 CST

Friedman's key question in this chapter was "Will free trade benefit America as a whole when the world becomes so flat and so many more people can collaborate, and compete, with my kids?"

p. 262 - Friedman referred to David Ricardo, English Economist (1772-1823) whose theory says, "if each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative cost advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize there will be an overall gain in trade, and overall income levels should rise in each trading country."

p. 263 Free trade policy not enough, it "must be accompanied by a focused domestic strategy aimed at upgrading the education of every American so they can compete for jobs in the flat world."

p. 264 Lump of Labor Theory - Only one lump of laborers in the whole world and that lump may have more members from one nation than others. This assumes that everything that is going nto be invented HAS been invented. Lower end service and manufacturing jobs move out of thriving nations to other nations leaving thriving nations with high unemployment percentages.

But this lump of labor is not a good theory since the shift of the lower end service jobs to other countries actually forces new, more specialized jobs to emerge. The jobs needed in America then move vertically. This means that needs for education are changing. The economy continues to grow because now other countries have more income to spend which boosts our sales since we are trading with them.

__________________________________________________________

I found this link that I thought complemented this chapter on education. I found it in the eSchool News paper. There are many who endorse this program and Bill & Melinda Gates are at the top of the list. --ssandova
http://skillscommission.org/pdf/exec_sum/ToughChoices_EXECSUM.pdf

Chapter 3 - The Triple Convergence

ggillmin — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 06:02:40 CST

Chapter 3 – The Triple Convergence

Examples:

Flying Southwest Airlines used to mean getting there early to get boarding pass with A, B, or C printed on ticket. Author got there early only to get a B. What was the deal? Other passengers walked up to gate with paper (not e-ticket) in hand with As. Southwest was now offering e-tickets which you could print from home if you check in within 24 hours of flight.
Bizhub - Print/copy/scan/fax/email - all in one machine

Convergences

In 2000, all ten of the flatteners discussed started to converge and work together in ways that created a new, flatter, global playing field. As this new playing field became established, both businesses and individuals began to adopt new habits, skills, and processes to get the most out of it.
Merger of the new playing field for doing business with the new ways of doing business
New group of people (several billion) walked into the playing field from China, India, and Soviet Empire

Convergence I

At turn of century (2000)

workflow software and hardware converged in a way that enabled bizhubs
Opening of Berlin Wall, Netscape, work flow, outsourcing, offshoring open-sourcing, insourcing, supplying-chaining, in-forming, and steroids amplifying them all reinforced one another, like complementary goods

Creation of a global, web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration, the sharing of knowledge and work-in real time, without regard to geography, distance, or in the near future, even language.

Convergence II

Many of ten flatteners have been around for years
New set of business practices and skills that now get the most out of the flat world
Globalization

Globalization 2.0 – era of mainframe computing – vertical – command & control
Globalization 3.0 – era of PC, Internet, fiber optics – horizontal – value creation

Convergence III

Not only did the West embrace this new playing field, 3 billion new players from East joined

China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central Asia
Thanks to the ten flatteners, playing field came to them

Friedman believes that this triple convergence of new players, on a new playing field, developing new processes and habits for horizontal collaboration is the most important force shaping global economics and politics in 21st century

1985 – global econ world was comprised of North America, Europe, Japan, and chunks of Latin America, Africa, and East Asia – 2.5 billion people

2000 – add Soviet Empire, India, China – now 6 billion people

Globalization will be driven by individuals who understand the flat world, adapt themselves quickly to its processes and technologies, and go forward without approval

India

Zippies - Cohort of Indian youth – young city or suburban resident, 15 to 25, zip in stride, gen Z, male or female, studying or working, oozes attitude, ambition, aspiration, cool, confident, creative, seeks challenges, loves risks and shuns fear, likes to make and spend money
In a flat world, you can innovate without having to emigrate
Instead of complaining about outsourcing, Americans and Western Europeans would be better off thinking about how you can raise the bar and raise yourselves into doing something better – don’t whine
It’s about efficiency, collaboration, competitiveness, being a player, staying sharp, & being in the game

China

Increase in students coming to US to study

Russia

Outsourcing of Russian engineers and scientists by American companies

Carly Fiorina, HP CEO, says “Now we are going into the main event, an era in which technology will literally transform every aspect of business, every aspect of life and every aspect of society.”

Chapter 4 - The Great Sorting Out

dstall — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:48:19 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Chapter 2 - The Ten Forces That Flattened the World

jeverett — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:58:27 CST

Flattener #1 - 11/9/89
The New Age of Creativity: When the Walls Came Down and the Windows Went Up

The Berlin Wall fell on 11/9/89 symbollic of our boundries of information. There was no one reason in particular that caused the fall of the wall. There were many reasons! The fall of the wall exposed differences between capitalism and communism. It caused the world, not just Germany, to begin seeing the world as a single market instead of many smaller systems.
In the meantime, personal computing was becoming a real thing! Windows 3.0 was introduced and all of a sudden people everywhere had the power to author their own material in digital format. It also eliminated the barrier on the amount of information a person could access.

Flattener #2 - The New Age of Connectivity: When the Web Went Around and Netscape Went Public

Internet and World Wide Web were born!
The First Web site was launched August 6, 1991 and Netscape went public on August 9, 1995. This event caused the whole world to be wired! Mosaic browser was started in 1993. The National Science Foundation funded Mosaic to build software enabling scientists to connect to other scientists sharing information.
In the meantime, everyone was buying into this and funding anything that had to do with technology. This was the dot com bubble. More fiber optics were put into place all over the world.

Flattener #3 - Work Flow Software

Automation brings about the need for standards
Standards on top of standards

HTML, HTTP, TCP/IP, XML, SOAP

Interoperability allows for flattening
Web 2.0

Flattener #4 - Open-Sourcing: Self-organizing Collaborative communities

"open-source" anyone who has something to contribute to improve can. Example: Apache, original shareware for Webserver technology
Two catalysts: (1) intellectual commons movement (from academic/scientific communities--i.e., peer-reviewed science (2) free software movement (from National Center for Supercomputing Apps) Examples: Linux, Firefox
Microsoft not a fan of free software. Corporation's BIG ? Who will profit?

Flattener #5 - Outsourcing: Y2K

2nd buyer concept - somebody starts something and puts $$ into it; 2nd buyers usually profit when stock goes south
outsourcing - facotories for US goods are in another country
India got to ride for free (IIT) Catalyst: Y2K - cost in India was 1/5 of what it would cost in US to deal with Y2K
India also almost rode the fiberoptic road for free; saved $$ for first world countries and saved 4rd world economy of India
Latest news: Japan is looking to build a plant in Nebraska; something to do with soybean oil - Will American soil be a location for outsourcing by other countries?

Flattener #6 - Offshoring: Running with Gazelles, Eating with Lions

Catalyst: China joined the World Trade Organization; now produces our products in the same way with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower health costs
Malaysia, Thailand, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam are engaged in "competitive flattening" or HOW LOW CAN YOU GO!

Flatener #7: Supply-Chaining, Eating Sushi in Arkansas

Wal-Mart is a prime example of supply-chaining. It is a method of collaborting horizontally--among suppliers, retailers, and customer--to create value.
Wal-Mart is biggest retailer in world and all it does it "make" a hyperefficient supply chain
Challenges in developing a global supply chain:
- Balancing out all factors to get the most reliable, low-cost delivery system
- Coordinating disruption-prone supply with hard-to-predict demand

Flatener #8: Insourcing, What the Guys in Funny Brown Shorts Are Really Doing

UPS became a huge flatening force
Reinvented itself as a dynamic supply-chain manager
UPS will pick it up, repair it, and send it right back to customer
process called insourcing--a whole new form of collaboration and creating vaue horizontally, made possible by the flat world and flattening it even more

Flatener # 9: In-forming, Google, Yahoo!, MSN Web Search

In-forming is the ability to build and deploy your own personal supply chain--a supply chain of information, knowledge, and entertainment.

Flatener #10: the Steroids, Digital, Mobile, Personal, and Virtual

Computing: computational capability, storage capabiltiy, and input/output capability
Instant messaging: Fil sharing, the peer-to-peer model, allows computer users to share songs, video, and other knds of files with one another online; peer to peer networks
Breakthroughs in making phone calls over the Internet
Videoconferencing
Computer graphics: driven in part by computer games
New wrireless technologies and devices

Please add your notes here!!!

Brainstorm and Blog

dstall — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:25:01 CST

What are some items we need to discuss as a combined group? This page might be a good spot to get the discussion started! I want to welcome any professional chatter here.

_____________________________________________________________________

The Read/Write Web is a site hosted by Will Richardson who is "Learner in Cheif" with Connective Learning. Check out this blog! He is a strong advocate for blogging and talks about how it will change the classroom.

______________________________________________________________________

Digital Storytelling

dstall — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 12:25:39 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Chapter 1 - While I Was Sleeping

dstall — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:28:20 CST

Jason sent us these notes on chapter 1:

Chapter one is an overview of what has been happening in globalization. These are some of the topics I wanted to discuss and so will share them in this medium.

On page 8, there is a quote I would like you to reflect on:
“But I was also excited personally, because what the flattening of the world means is that we are now connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network, which - if politics and terrorism do not get in the way - could usher in an amazing era of prosperity, innovation, and collaboration, by companies, communities, and individuals.”
The power of many is much greater than the power of one. We need to embrace this! Leadership should be our mission in this era of globalization.

Page 9:
Globalization 1.0 – 1492 – 1800
Globalization 2.0 – 1800 – 2000
Globalization 3.0 – 2000 – present
Quote from page 11 on Globalization 3.0 – Individuals from every corner of the flat world are being empowered. You are going to see every color of the human rainbow take part.
Review what makes these periods significant.

Page 20 – Inset Story
Discuss how jobs become mundane and how that compares with creativity of opening the way for new opportunities.
Wal-mart impact. Mom and Pop restaurants vs. chains. Agricultural changes.

Page 31 – Remote Assistants

Page 32 – Dalian China is to Japan what Bangalore India is to America. Even through the ill feelings brought by previous war.

Page 34 – Dalian has 22 Universities and over 200,000 students mostly majoring in science and engineering.

Page 35 – Quote that Chinese youngsters are more ambitious than the Americans or Japanese.

Page 37-38 – Homesourcing vs. Outsourcing
Using the resources of those wanting to stay home but still be productive income bearers in the community/household.

Page 39 – Drones flown over Iraq are controlled by people in Las Vegas.

Page 40 – McDonalds call center is taking orders in drive-throughs and at tables.

Page 42 – Online outsourced Tutoring (Could be MUCH discussion on this topic!)

Page 45 – Leveling the playing field – The little guy can now compete with big business. Example on this page is of the Independent Journalist who can get the scoop in the field faster than the big networks for much less money.

I also wanted to discuss what can we do as a service unit to stay in the curve.