Davidson’s book is about a mismatch of our education system and what people need in order to succeed in today’s world. She argues that the 4th great Information Technology Revolution requires us to change our educational institutions as well as our workplaces. One example she tackles is the use of multi-choice questions on tests, do they really make sense anymore, given the ease with which so much information is available at our finger-tips on the internet.
Our schools and educational system were designed for the last century, reflecting the values and needs of the Industrial Age in which they were created not for a world in which technology has reshaped the way we think and learn. Therefore the emphasis on standardized tests of reading, writing, and arithmetic is a sentimental reaction a longing for the past.
She points to a magnet school in Durham NC, that is on the failing list, everyone is trying really hard, but with 30% of the students being non-native English speakers those standardized tests may flunk a school out of existence.
She makes the point that we ought to see people as differently abled, instead of disabled. For example, there’s this company SonyaLista who trains certain people to check for computer-code mistakes, “Normals” are bad at this task, however, people with Autism-Spectrum, make superb checkers of computer-code mistakes.
One problem I had with her book is that she stretched her evidence to make her points. For example, she points to the fact that computer games can help seniors with visual-spatial field perception. While this is true, the very best thing you can do to help brain functioning at any age, b
ut particularly at older ages, is to perform physical exercise. She fails to mention this fact.
