"Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own."
Heffernan, Virginia. "Education Needs a Digital Upgrade."New York Times 07 Aug 2011, n. pag. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/education-needs-a-digital-age-upgrade/>.


The first part of this quote made me look back on my previous educational experiences.  The first time I went through college to receive a diploma, most of my fellow students and I were striving for degrees in the usual suspects: Accounting, Law, Teaching, Journalism, etc.  Though each of those careers were changing even then, they were old standbys that were familiar.  Though there were of course the IT students and Computer Programmers, those departments were not as large or popular as the others.  Six years after receiving that degree and reentering college, it is unbelievable how much college life and college course have changed.  Computers are in most classrooms were they were relegated to mostly technology courses before, unless you were one of the lucky few from a well-off family.  Blackboard that we were only just beginning to use and only to record grades is now the primary means of communication, information, and means to turn in assignments.  If all of that can change in just six years, how much different will the world be from when a child begins school until they graduate?
The second part of the quote makes me think of my son.  He'll be four soon and starting Pre-K in the fall.  He also already knows more about computers than I did leaving high school, most of which he figured out on his own.  He doesn't know how to read or even write his name all that well, but he can navigate to the games that he likes to play, find a video that he wants to watch, or find a story program that will read to him.  Everyday he astounds me with some piece of information that he has learned from the computer.  He is thinking in different ways than my brothers did at his age, whether from computers or the change of the times I am not certain.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/6/1715.full.pdf