Preface

Today's modern world is undergoing rapid reinvention with unparalleled outreach and speed. The world is not just changing, the world is changing at an explosive pace. Nations and cultures are being reinvented as technology transforms all aspects of life. Old ways of doing and acting are no longer appropriate as new ways of doing and acting emerge from the creative genius of a broad array of global perspectives. Practice that was once isolated is now widely circulated. Transformational solutions now emerge from new sources of inspiration to empower and renovate current practice. As the remnants of the Industrial Revolution yield to the mandates of the age of information, our world has become more interconnected and mutually dependent. In fact, all aspects of life are undergoing incomparable change. Education is not immune. In fact, education struggles to empower mankind and guide the utilization of these new methodologies, social morays, and cultural perspectives. The preparation of tomorrow's global society and modern workforce places education and educators squarely at the crossroads of globalization and technology. The real question is, "Where do we go from here?"

The discussion of twenty-first-century workplace skill sets is already two decades old. Today's educators struggle to prepare students for jobs that do not even exist yet. Not only are yesterday's skill sets obsolete, but today's skill sets are also no longer sufficient. Educators are required to train students today for jobs that may emerge tomorrow and then vanish as quickly as they appeared. Preparing students for career flexibility has become the norm rather than the exception. A clarion call has gone forth demanding vision and foresight to meet the yet unseen needs of our emerging world. Education cannot lag behind other disciplines, rather it must chart the course for the vessels that follow. Mankind must adapt. Even the process of changing must change. These are exciting times to be an educator!

One cannot grasp the needs of the present and the future without an understanding of the past. Today's world did not just happen. Our modern world was born through the travail of countless discoveries and myriads of associated challenges. Globalization is often described as the interaction between peoples within a shrinking, interconnected world. Globalization began when the first human decided to look over the next ridge and continues to reel beneath the expanding impact of communication and transportation technology. Grandchildren speak to grandparents on the other side of the world just as readily as travelers greet each other while walking through the local mall. The barriers of language and distance no longer constrain interactions, creating an explosion of opportunity for the astute. International trade is fueled by the fertility of the human mind and the rich exchange of ideas. In this environment, the educated mind remains the guardian genius of possibility. Education becomes the highway to a better life.

Change is not always bad. In fact, water that quits changing becomes stagnate and deadly. Fresh ideas and novel thinking serve to enliven the waters of human endeavor. Education has always been important; however, the role of education is more important now than in any previous time in human history. Educators are the heralds of opportunity and stand upon the shoulders of giants who walked before

**II**

**Chapter 8 111**

**Chapter 9 123**

Envisioning the Impact of Globalization **141**

**Chapter 10 143**

**Chapter 11 153**

Envisioning the Future **171**

**Chapter 12 173**

**Chapter 13 193**

**Chapter 14 203**

**Chapter 15 223**

Beyond Teaching: School Climate and Communication in the Educational

Online Career Guidance Systems for PK-12 School Students: Compliments to a Comprehensive School Counseling Program

Learning Is Visual: Why Teachers Need to Know about Vision

Is University Education Limited by Globalization and Technology in Developing Countries? An Observation Done during Pandemic

Addressing Sustainability Planning in Higher Education Research

Community Learning Centres as Podia for Technology Enhanced

Limitations and Proposals for Improvement of the Bilingual Program

Is Experiential Learning Possible with Active Music Education?

of the Community of Madrid in Public Primary Schools

*by Gunvor Birkeland Wilhelmsen and Marion Felder*

*by Julie A. Cerrito and Richard Joseph Behun*

*by Mary Marcel and Beatha Mkojera*

*by Eleni Mousena and Nikolaos Raptis*

Ubiquitous Learning: A Botswana Case

**Section 4**

Context

**Section 5**

*by Hope Pius Nudzor*

*by Rebecca Nthogo Lekoko*

*by Esmeralda Sotoca Sienes*

*by Kivanc Aycan*

them. This text is intended to share the ideas, perceptions, insights, and inquiries of those who struggle to understand the past and the present in order to envision the future.

Technology was once utilized as a euphemism to refer to the computer. Now technology embraces a much broader digital aspect. Just as Liber Abaci, an early thirteenth-century text, expounded the genius of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system to liberate mankind from the constraints of the mechanical abacus, the process of learning continues to embrace digital resources that threaten to transcend the computer itself. Digital has become so much more than simply utilizing a computer to enhance instruction. Digital learning now encompasses the broad spectrum of effectively utilizing any form of digital technology to enhance learning. Liber Abaci (freedom from the abacus) has become Liber Computatrum (freedom from the programmable machine). Digital learning welds together a plethora of learning tools, devices, pedagogies, and andragogy to lay the future at the feet of humanity. This text is dedicated to educators in the past and the present who lent their passion and genius to make this revolution possible. This text is also dedicated to those educators yet to come who will stand upon the shoulders of others to empower possibility and guide the future.

> **Sharon Waller** Assistant Professor of Education, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

> **Lee Waller** American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

> **Vongai Mpofu** Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe
