Professor Haim Harari on Technology, Education and the new Internet Age

Some selected excerpts from the opening speech by Professor Haim Harari at the ISOC 10th Annual Event.

Professor Haim Harari, a theoretical physicist, is the chair of the Davidson Institute of Science Education. He was the president of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science from 1988 to 2001. In his career he has made major contributions to three different fields: particle physics research, science education, and science administration and policy. He lives in Israel.

Prof. Haim Harari has been using computers for 45 years. He is a well known physicist and scientist and not what he calls a professional/advanced Internet user. He makes the observation that today the gross domestic product of countries is technology based and not natural resources. He uses the following to explain the shift in global economy since the 1970’s: the gross domestic product in Germany in 2.5 weeks is equivalent to the GDP of 1 year in Iran. The gap created between countries in the new technology age in the world is growing.

Science & Technology are tools. They can be used to do good or bad. The analogy he brings is one of your own hands, you can choose to do good, caress or you can choose to hurt someone, and do wrong. The same can be said of the Internet.

1/3 of the population in Israel and 2/3 of the world population does NOT take part in the new world of science and technology. The world is mostly not democratic and its that same part that is not part of the new technological age and has the highest birth rate and growth rate. This growing gap is something to watch and be concerned about.

In 2004, Harari gave a speech entitled “A view from the eye of the storm” where he provided his view of the middle east and a call for a new era in the region. The article was sent by email to a colleague in California. Apparently the article circulated and at some point made its way to the Internet. He started getting reports that the article is being circulated online. The article was featured on over 1500 web sites, translated to 6 languages and by that time he was quoted as an Arab intellectual, a Jewish imposter presenting himself as an Arab and even Hariri, the late Prime Minister of Lebanon…

The article was circulated and even appeared in a US newspaper, was translated to several languages and all without his permission. He received over 650 emails asking for permission to publish which he refused and was ignored. This story presents both the good and the bad the Internet has to offer and relates to the next topic: education.

Education in the new world has changed. The basic or core principles are the same for the most part. Mathematics, languages, history, biology change very little. What has changed is the available tools and methods for collecting information. With the availability and free flow of information what increases in significance are the basics. Accuracy, politeness, honesty. These core values more then ever, will determine where we are heading in the age of technology. They define the rules of the new world and what we make of the information age we live in. (Prof. Harari you are welcome to edit me at any point ).

What Prof. Harari takes away from all this is the need for a “new” education system. One that goes beyond the traditional, outdated format. The new school will make use of all the available technologies for presentation, research and a dynamic curriculum.
And it can not be done at the school as it is today. These new technologies are not penetrating the schools fast enough.

The Internet has never been able to win over the education system. The education system is slow, things take years and the Internet goes against the grain. A fast dynamic environment that is constantly redefining itself. The challenge is to integrate a dynamic, innovative environment into a slow, bureaucratic education system.

It’s important to note that he has great respect to teachers and emphasizes that point. To put in context, the teachers in Israel have been under severe criticism in recent years as well as the quality of the education system in general. There are 150,000 teachers in Israel and there are bound to be some good and some bad, some smart and others that are not. At the end of the day they can’t all be geniuses.

The teacher loses his value in the Internet Age. Information is freely available and teachers just can’t compete. What they should become are the guides. The traffic cops of the education process, providing guidance and consulting for students. Teachers need to have strong Internet skills to be effective. A teacher entering the profession today in 2006, will influence society in 2045 (as a senior teacher). That is a catastrophe not addressed by the education system today. In the last 10 years Israel has had 9 (NINE) education ministers. That is the second catastrophe.

Harari believes that we must prepare for the new age right now. Controlling the quality of the new world is paramount to our future. Without control the tendency will be to lean to the bad use of the technology. The way to make sure that this does not happen is to provide a computer for every child and teacher.

Professor Haim Harari is involved in a project called Katom (כתום). The calculations that were made lead to the conclusion that for $10 a month, per student and for 4 years, students can each have a computer. This could be achieved by minimal effort from the education system and within the existing budget. There is currently an experiment in 9 schools across Israel. The computers are not loaded with any particular data and necessary reading, this is going to be acquired online.

The government, true to form, is making life more difficult with bureaucratic bull shit, like who owns the subsidized computers. They are after all there to help……. But the idea is that each student as well as the teacher will receive a computer in these Internet classes.

The intellectual richness vs. intellectual poverty is the biggest threat to humanity and education is the key.

He since published a book available here.

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