Changing times: A challenge for educators

Abstract

Utilization of the ever-expanding world of technology in developing staff training programs is becoming increasingly paramount. Educators now entering the field will influence directly students who will live their lives primarily in the twenty-first century. These citizens of tomorrow require preparation far beyond the scope they currently receive. The present educational system rests on the assumption that teachers teach and students learn. In the future, however, the teacher will be unable to pose as the authority for subject matter. The major portion of the present educational system focuses on education concerning the past and present and ignores the technological changes occurring at an accelerated rate. According to Arters (1980), for instance, by the time a person enters the middle years, 50% of what they learn is obsolete. Despite this fact, schools do not prepare students for advance in technology and still insist on the traditional textbook method.