This morning when you woke up what was the first thing you did? Grab a cup of coffee? Let the dogs out, at some point you turned on the TV. By breakfast you had turned on your cell phone and checked emails, possibly sent a few texts. Just think how technology has changed our lives in the past hundred years?
Yesterday I read an article entitled The Flint Hills Stone Shelters, 1800’s underground stone structures scattered around the Kansas landscape. As my mother referred to them these “root cellar” were the shelter farmers and ranchers alike went to cool off after a long days harvest in the blistering summer heat. Thinking about those old root cellars, I’m curious, what did their morning routine look like?
It’s fascinating to think how our day to day lives have evolved in the past hundred years. When I was a new college student, carrying a laptop to class was unthinkable—the most exciting portable device was a palm pilot. Yet, Today students are equipped with an entourage of technical devices, cells phones, touch screen laptops, tablets and blue tooth audio ready to go. I think of all the technical preparation these students have today that I didn’t. A transition of the time, maybe, moving from the old to the new, but then I think about the workforce this generation is entering. Our working world is quickly evolving to reflect this new technical age. Currently 74% of Americans are using a computer at work to access the internet, check their email or utilize specific piece of software. Without computer programmers we how would we organize and retrieve the million pieces of data companies use daily? How would we communicate a company’s a growth to stakeholders without software engineers. Our economy is directly linked to the strength and skills of our current and future workforce. Technology is where our workforce is heading.
As factories expand and companies find new ways to get products to the public, we see the need for technological minds to be a part of that. Jobs for the future involve machine tooling operators and engineers working together to create new infrastructures. Consider how our understanding of what’s possible changed with the invention of the 3D printer. In high schools across Kansas students are learning to incorporate technology into their normal studies, and also focusing on career and technical pathways to set-up their working futures. The importance technology plays in todays’ workforce and our students futures is immeasurable.
We’re living in a time of transition. Our county is currently full of working men and women who may have had little exposure to technical education. Yet, in every December and May graduation we see new talent emerge and join the workforce. With each working day we learn from one another and we certainly rely on the expertise we both bring to work, but living in transition is exciting, new, ok at times scary. We’re uncertain of where all this technology will lead us, but we do know having access to technology will help push us into the future. It will help bridge the gap from the past to the future.
