I remember last year engineers were talking about the end of Moore’s law (every 18 months processor speed would double).  Too many obstacles were in the way that had to be hurdled.  Such as, there was not enough space on the chips or feature size being too big.  New materials needed to be discovered, etc., etc.  Even though engineers were stating this, IBM and other companies’ engineers were still working as if Moore’s law was still applicable.  Over the last five months, IBM has created four innovations this year alone in chip making that will allow Moore’s law to continue for the next ten-twenty years.

I think this is a good example of how to approach the class/training room.  We instructors may not have the time, materials, or the knowledge to change our course lesson plans every 18 months.  There is no Moore’s law in teaching, yet. 

Except, there is, in a sense.  Technology is changing every year, every month, every day.  Processes are constantly being improved.  Faculty in the classroom has to know about these changes to make their lessons relevant to their students and the jobs they will have.  If we don’t keep up, we, our students will be left behind. 

“But,” you say, “we don’t have the time.”  Understandable.  We don’t have to change our courses all at once.  We can change one or two things each semester by going out and finding different resources that we can apply to our lessons.  Sign up for list serves, use NetWorks free resource library, and/or invite a guest speaker from industry.  Intel, AMD, and other chip manufacturers will use the knowledge that IBM has created.  We need to be like those companies and use what other people create to bring the most to our students.

Find something that is new and unique that your students should know this semester.  Make a change in just one or two lessons.  Next semester, in another lesson, find something that is new.  As you do this over time, you end up with a new law:  Technology education must evolve with technological changes.

The brilliance of this is that it is never too late to start.

What places, websites, magazines, do you find the most helpful when looking for materials for your classes?  What are you searching for that you haven’t found?