INDUSTRY TECH OUTLOOK19international relationships, perturbances like deep fake videos could trigger existential threats.More broadly and under the radar, human-made systems are getting more complicated and interrelated. Even the designers of big computer systems, big supply chains, and big military operations, don't fully understand the operations of these massive systems or their interactions with other systems--especially in `Black Swan' events (historic occurrences that are unprecedented and unexpected).As OpenAI's Jack Clark said, "The 21st century will be defined by our attempts to come up with the right learning systems to intelligently and scalably constrain the machines we have created."Education takeaway:· High school and college deserve at least a broad overview of the Earth owner's manual--the most important issues of our time, including both challenges and opportunities.· High school students need a few chances to dive into the complexity of human systems and the often unexpected ways they interface with each other and with natural systems. This requires bigger blocks of time and more community connections than traditional discipline-based structures allow.· Complex work is typically carried out by diverse transdisciplinary teams. All students need to be capable project managers with strong social and emotional skills.Social MovementsNot since the Facebook-fueled Arab Spring nine years ago have we seen such promise in social movements leveraging network effects. This year, we saw big advances in:· Recognizing global warming and mobilizing organizations, cities, and regions (see @GretaThunberg);· Moving from a fixation on quarterly profits to a broader view of stakeholder value (in part because of #1, what the World Economic Forum called the Greta Thunberg effect);· Despite some whitewashing, there were big strides in #AIforGood and mitigating its negative--even existential--threats (see @technovation, @ai4allorg, @OpenAI, @FLIxrisk, #AI4k12).Supporting these positive trends, it's increasingly easier to raise money for a good cause. About $250 billion in venture capital flowed to startups in 2019--about half internationally. And twice that amount was invested in the U.S. alone.Education takeaway:· Secondary students should be equipped with change-making strategies and encouraged to make a difference in their community on local versions of global challenges.· Like Montour School District, all middle school students should get exposure to artificial intelligence and exponential technologies, and begin grappling with the ethical issues that will shape their lives;· Like young people in the AI Family Challenge and AI4ALL, all high school students should have the opportunity to apply smart tools to community challenges.Ready & Waiting for InnovationIn education, there was a widespread reconsideration of goals and measures this year. Hundreds of U.S. school districts made progress on creating graduate portraits with outcomes more relevant to the innovation economy, which include design and success skills (like social and emotional learning). But despite the conclusion of a long-awaited commission focused on social, emotional and academic development, there was little progress on measuring what matters.When it comes to moving the needle, the federal government is largely inconsequential as are most state accountability systems. While most state boards are desperate to say yes to innovation, state testing systems still monopolize life in schools, yielding a preoccupation with grade-level proficiency in basic skills.All but a handful of secondary schools remain trapped in the two-centuries-old architecture of discipline-based courses, credits and grades. A few schools are attempting new architecture based on skill sprints and projects, getting smarter to do real work.Despite a little new funding, the political support--at the national level and in many regions-- for new innovative schools appears to be softening just when we could really use them.
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