The Changing Nature of Work - A Tale of EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY & NOBODY

The Facts of Life

This is the story about four people named EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, and NOBODY: 

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.  Anybody could have done it, but NOBODY did it.  Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job.  Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.  It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, when Nobody did what Anybody could of done.

The World of Work

     Undoubtedly the internet has changed The Facts of Life rhyme and ultimately the way we see and do business in the Twenty First Century.  The internet and the advancement in technological tools have created a multitude of platforms for the caste of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and the once viewed Nobody to emerge on the global scene.  A new way of thinking about gainful employment and ourselves as employees has evolved from laborers during the industrial revolution period to present day innovators, intellectuals and contenders.   Like it or not, the internet has changed the nature of work.  In his presentation, How the Internet will (one day) transform government, Shirky (2012) stated, “Being given a dashboard without a steering wheel has never been the core promise democracy makes to its citizens.”  The internet has become society’s guiding force - transfixing ideas that would have found a home on a book shelf to residing in homes across the world.  Global citizens of the world have transformed the internet, fifty plus years removed from its infancy, to an equal opportunistic phenom.  And, while the internet is not a person for the advantages of work we often treat it as such.  Case in point, Friedman (2007) discusses the competitive edge other countries now have on the United States in part to the advancement in technology.  Much like these countries who deem it necessary to invest in research development (R&D) and education to gain a competitive edge in the global economy, workers in the contemporary era are using the internet to reposition themselves in the workforce.

Telecommunicating Compulsory Education

Compulsory education (K-12) has always been a delicate stage for educational development.  In generally, it was once fair to say that teachers and students must physically show up in the same location for teaching and learning to occur.  Online learning was

EDUCATION becoming A WIERARCHY

left to post-secondary programs and the ivory towers.  The rule of thumb was younger students had not acquired the necessary skills and aptitudes to self-regulate and/or guide their own education.  Despite these fundamental thoughts supported by research, individual’s developed the concept of Cyber School.  So, the idea of teaching children in a four wall structure has now changed to teaching students via an internet format.  

     Today it is possible for a secondary teacher (grades 6-12) to bypass after school programs, staff meetings, classroom management, the staff lounge and the cultural components that make schools unique.  The internet affords teachers the opportunity to choose – the four walls or the compute screen.  Such choice does not make the giant leap to assert that Cyber Schools are good forums for teaching and learning.  In fact, there is much debate on the benefits and disadvantage for students and the implication this has on their early development as learners.  Yet, Cyber School is a business.  It’s appealing to both students and teachers who wish to avoid the traditional school setting.  Clay Shirky emphasized that the internet has permitted new ideas to circulate and such ideas stand to generate more disagreement (2012).  Cyber School is a prime example of Shirky’s expression.  Education today is not the Education your mother once knew. 

 Additionally, Cyber Schools falls within the concept of Wierarchy “a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based on knowledge, trust, credibility and a focus on results, enabled by interconnected people and technology.” (Goasduff, 2010).   The thought of Cyber School being dynamic is a matter of opinion; however, it’s difficult to deny that it matches the underlying meaning of wierarchy.  A de-routinization of the work of teachers is ever present in the existence of Cyber Schools.  While it is challenging to say that an online teacher is a good or even excellent teacher, we can provide the teacher with the available online tools to maximize his/her teaching capacity. 

The Role of Leaders

     Educational leaders must be cautious not to fall for every fly by night idea.  On average, Cyber Schools are funded by school systems and serve as a component of school choice.  Therefore, public funds make it possible for many Cyber Schools to exist.  Essentially, Cyber Schools are Charter Schools. For students with particular disabilities, Cyber School appears to be a viable educational choice.  On the other hand, school leaders must ensure that appropriate accountability measures and monitoring processes are in place to safeguard Cyber Schools from being viewed simply as another way to use the internet, but a method that indeed produces healthy and productive students as well. 

     Establishing an equal balance of accountability on the part of the student, teacher and the leaders managing these twenty first century institutions is essential.

Certainly, the internet is a force to be reckoned with.  It has allowed compulsory education teachers to reposition themselves.  The verdict on the effectiveness of this new role on teaching and learning is still out for deliberation.

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Question of the Week
Inquiring Minds

Internet and Work

 Is the internet creating undo stress in the work environment?

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