There is widespread fear that US is not preparing enough talents in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) while its global competitors, such as China and India, are producing a lot more engineers and scientists. And this fear has been used to fuel investment in STEM education in the United States.  For example, a report produced by the National Academies of Sciences at the request of Congress in 2005 and published in 2007 (with a revision in 2008) says that “Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of …

In my upcoming book “Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization,” I make the case the virtual world is real in many ways while schools continue to view technology as simply a tool to improve the teaching of traditional subjects. I saw a CNN story about emerging jobs yesterday. Out of the 7 jobs, the fastest growing and highest paying job is simulation developers–those who create virtual worlds and objects. The expected growth rate is 38% and salary is $58,163.
Our schools need to prepare …

This article Education in the Flat World: Implications of Globalization on Education was published in Edge Magazine (Phi Delta Kappa International), 2(4). 1-19. You can download the PDF version here.
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This is a video of Yong Zhao’s keynote speech at Asia Socity’s A World Class Education conference on July 11, 2009, Washington DC. It is titled Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization after his new book.

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Ed Week Post about this video: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2009/08/michigan_scholar_questions_com.html
Will more standards, accountability, and higher test scores make American students more globally competitive? In the video, Yong Zhao retells his personal story and questions the wisdom of current US education policy. He argues that global competitiveness comes from a diversity of talents and recognition of individual passions and creativity. This is part of a film series produced by the Mobile Learning Institute’s called “A 21st Century Education”

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Yong Zhao has been leading the development of Zon, the world’s first MMORPG for learning Chinese language and culture. It provides an immersive environment for learning Chinese through interactions with both pre-programmed content and other players, including live tutors from China. Log in and play now.
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