"The world is flat..."

Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog…

Today I am going to write about something which interested me a lot. When you read the title of my post you may be surprised as much as I was surprised when heard that expression from my instructor. However after doing some listening I agree that "The world is flat". This idea belongs to Thomas Friedman who has written a book with the same title. 

In the speech that I listened to Thomas Friedman presented how the technological advancements have influenced our lifestyle and what major changes we have faced even without understanding that we were involved in that process…. He talked about three different areas of globalization. The first one he called globalization 1.0 which took place between 1492 and 1800. This is the beginning of global arbitrage when the world shrunk from size big to size medium.  The second area of globalization started from 1800s and lasted till 2000. This time the world changed from size medium to size small. This was not about the globalizing countries but about the companies and he called this period “globalization 2.0”.Finally,  starting from 2000 we entered the globalization 3.0. This time the world transformed from size small to a tiny. Globalization 3.0 is about the ability of individuals and small groups rather than the countries or the companies. This revolution resulted in flattening the world. Thomas Friedman talks about ten huge flatteners, which are; Berlin wall, the Netscape that gave us the internet, workflow,  outsourcing,  open source, in-sourcing,. off-shoring,. fiber-optic(uses light), supply-chain and in-forming (Google). These flatteners are about new ways of communication and collaboration. People all around the world got connected to each other regardless the place they live. Employees of one company can live in totally different parts of the globe. These changes had their impact on the way people now live in the world and they have also changed the perception about the world. Yes the world is flat now…

In order to catch up with these advancements you have to be very attentive. But the interesting part is that the new generation is catching up with these changes easily. The videos that I watched were the proof of my words. They were about 5 different kids who were very advanced in technology. The idea which I liked the most was that “all the kids have thinking skills and problem solving skills. And when you provide the kid with the tools it is very likely to be surprised by what he/she may be able to do with it in the nearest future”. The surprising fact about the kids was that they were teaching their teachers, that is to say technology has reversed their roles. The teachers were asking the students to stay after classes and help them. They were helping not only their teachers but also their parents, neighbors and everybody who needed some help in technology… yes, technology have changed the way we live...

 After listening to these stories I got a little bit disappointed. I started to think that I have missed something. These kids were younger than me but much more proficient in technology than I am. And I, as a person belonging to the 21^st century do not have right not to know all of these things. …. As a TEFL students and a future teacher I have to be very attentive to new developments so as to teach the students rather than to be taught.  This doesn’t mean that if my students would come to me and show something new and explain the way it works will be shameful for me, no, but I do believe that teachers should “update” themselves frequently, not stick to one technique of teaching. Teachers have to teach the students literacy so as they can interpret things correctly. Armenian teachers particularly should do their best to benefit from the opportunities that internet is providing. In many cities, villages not all of the people have access to computers, so the teachers should do their best to be able to use technology as much as it is possible. Explain and present new technological developments and use them during their classes.

So, my dear colleagues, be awake and prepared as we are living in a totally new world- in a flat world.