21st Century Curriculum and Instruction

Wednesday, I discussed federal, state, and local funding for 2009-2010. The discussion was spurred by a recent article on the doubling of the federal education budget. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hope that this portion of the economic stimulus package can transform schools into places that will "provide rich material for 21st century curriculum and instruction that is real-world, relevant and rigorous."

Biden, Obama, and Duncan at Dodge School in Chicago

The importance of 21st century curriculum and instruction really hit me at my day job this week. The Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC; www.eirc.org) held a teleconference for high school students who are leaning towards medical careers. They visited EIRC to watch a surgery taking place at a hospital in northern NJ. While this was happening, the surgeon and operating team fielded questions from the students in real time.

That was not the amazing part; after all, EIRC hosts 4 teleconferenced surgeries per year.

Teleconference of students at EIRC viewing a live surgery

During the surgery, the doctor never touched the patient. It was robotic surgery. The doctor worked at a machine called DaVinci. The machine is in the operating room to prevent latency, which is the time delay caused by translating analog information into digits on one end of a transmission and reversing the process on the other end. The shorter the distance, the shorter the delay, which is critical for surgeons who are viewing the robotic responses to their movements.

This too was not the amazing part. The amazing part is where robotic surgery is heading.

Once latency is overcome, surgery can be performed long distance. Say you need a kidney transplant and the best surgeon is in Australia. No problem...the surgery can be performed as he/she works from a home office in Melbourne.

Now...couple all this with the Ninetendo Wii. The Wii glove has been on the market since 2006. As it becomes perfected, it will become tactile. In other words, while your surgery takes place, your surgeon will feel the difference between hard and spongy tissue as his/her hands move through thin air down in Melbourne.

Wii Glove

I guess it is time to stop arguing about whether or not we should allow cell phones and iPods to be brought to school and start looking at the skills needed for students to succeed in the 21st century workforce. Let's face it: the surgeons who will perform our transplants are sitting in our classrooms right now!