In Thailand, ASEAN 2015, the economic union of ten Asian countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam) will have dramatic effects on education and everyday life. This union means that there will be open travel and work exchange between the countries, with English becoming the official language of the region. It will be more important than ever for Thai students to develop their 21st century and English language skills just to compete with the new intercultural workplace.
In response, Thailand’s new educational goals are focusing on student centered learning, critical thinking skills, and creativity. This is a radically new direction in education for this region, similar to what we are experiencing in the states with the 21st century standards .
It seems we are all being called to create a new ‘future of learning’ as Sugata Mitra puts it. Take a look at this TED talk, Build a School in the Cloud, where he explains his Hole in the Wall project. An experiment that clearly demonstrates that we need to radically alter the way we approach “education”, no matter where we are in the world.