The :...Joshua
Watson and his friends conceived their plans at a time of great
national crisis and upheaval. The Luddite movement, which also
began in 1811, was a response to fear of redundancy because of
growing technological advances. Two centuries later, the advances
that threaten long-established patterns of work are different—but
they are still there, in what we are now calling the fourth
industrial revolution. As the World Economic Forum describes it,
the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle
of the last century is today accompanied by emerging
technological breakthroughs in fields such as artificial
intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, autonomous
vehicles, 3d
printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials
science, energy storage and quantum computing. How our schools
and our further and higher education institutions can equip us
for this seismic shift, and how our systems of social security
and support can enable us to keep our society cohesive and
healthy, are among the greatest challenges facing this
generation, and the generation to come. And, of course, there is
Brexit, with unforeseeable changes, challenges and
opportunities...
(Con):...Some people ask, “Is it too early to start
teaching computing in primary schools?”. After Christmas, I am
meeting the headmaster of a school in Telford who has got his
students aged 11—in an ordinary primary school, in an area that
has 66% disadvantaged pupils—to get through GCSE computing level
2. If he can do that, any primary school should do it. Once I
have met him, the Government should find out exactly how he has
done it and make sure it can be spread throughout the primary
areas. Primary schools should also have 3D printers; those who
have seen them realise how important they are for inventiveness
and creativity...
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