In today’s society it seems almost natural that one follow the socially prescribed guidelines to go to school, study hard, get a job, get married, start a family and then die. Death is inevitable. Thus, it feels comforting to follow the rules in a clear cut manner. For what is more frightening than leaving the herd and doing something new and different?

Nonetheless, the world is changing rapidly. The tools that humanity uses and builds are constantly transforming through innovation and creativity. Just look at your cell phone or computer. Visualize the first cell phone you bought or used and compare it to the cell phones that are available today. Recently, cell phones were used solely to dial numbers, while today they function as mini computers, equipped with data and the ability to receive Wi-Fi signals. Exactly a decade ago, on February 4th 2004, Facebook was created. The first IPod was released in 2001. It is no secret that we are living in the context of a technological revolution.

While the tools we are using are improving exponentially, what changes do we see in the education system? A couple decades ago, the whole concept of research seems to have been so difficult and tedious. Imagine the process of research without search engines such as google. Clearly, society is progressing by making information readily accessible and by humanity’s involvement in the sharing of information. Once upon a time it was much easier to blindly accept something shared with us by a peer. Today, with the help of Wi-Fi and google search, if we doubt the information that is being told, we can easily do a google search and check the facts ourselves.

The current education system requires that one memorize the “facts”. Subsequently, one is tested on their ability to memorize. This form of learning is outdated and old fashioned. The facts are constantly being updated. What was held true yesterday could easily change today. It seems that it is time that we change our education system. Instead of reading a text book and going to class only to have the professor regurgitate what was in the book, why not turn lectures into discussions? It seems common knowledge that the best way to remember information is to discuss it. It seems time that we update the education system so that instead of teaching youth to memorize “facts”, we encourage them to critically evaluate the “facts” because facts change.