A. The first chapter within our text discusses the current state our our nation in several key areas.  These areas include the status of our business sector, our economy, employment, technology, and education and the  relationships between these topics.  The authors discuss the work of Thomas Friedman who is famous for his idea that the world is now flat.  Friedman argues that as technology continues to advance at an alarming rate, it becomes possible for people throughout the world to take advantage of these technologies and to maximize their efforts in productivity.  He speaks of companies who have offices on opposite sides of the world so that as one half of the world sleeps, the workers who are experiencing day light on the other side of the world can continue completing the tasks started by the other branch.  This continuous effort minimizes gaps in worker employment schedules and allows for continuous work flow for the parent company.  The authors express concern for these advances as the United States has thus far failed to apply the maximum amount of effort towards retooling our education system to be able to compete with the skills of foreign competitors. 

  B.  As a future business educator it is important for me to recognize gaps that exist in the skill levels of my future students in comparison to global students who will compete against them in the job market.  I must then prepare my students to be able to recognize their skill levels and develop meta-cognitive abilities.  Meta-cognitive intelligence will help the students discover how they learn best and it will help them apply this knowledge to improve their skill sets.  I believe that because technology is constantly evolving it is not important that I teach specific programs or skill sets to my students.  Instead, it is more important that I teach them to be comfortable with advancements in technology and not to fear technology. 

Previously, I read a book a few years ago titled Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson.  This book argues that as television show scripts become more complex and video games become more realistic, they assist children along the technological curve.  The author discusses how children are often able to program household devices more efficiently than their parents.  He also talks about how the average I.Q. score of Americans has slightly increased over time since the formation of this testing procedure.  Johnson credits this increase to the growing existence of television sets, computers, video games, and the Internet into the homes of Americans.  Johnson further argues that although these technologies appear to exist for primarily entertainment purposes, on a deeper level they actually contribute technology skill sets to children.  As an educator, I will use things that are entertaining to me and try to adapt these technologies so that they can teach my students proper technology skill sets. 

C.  Education and business are very heavily intertwined subject matters.  The more educated students are about the business world and all it has to offer, the better prepared they can become to meet the requirements of the business world.  As a future educator I will constantly apply my efforts into educating students in regards to how they can become technological assets to their perspective future employers.  I have heard several stories of new teachers who were hired because the school system who interviewed them was considering purchasing new forms of technology and the beginning teacher expressed possessing knowledge and skill sets for using that technology.  It will be my job as an educator to teach students how explore technologies and to be confident enough to express their skill levels in these technologies to future employers.