Since 1993, the advertising company calling itself “the visual thinking company” has worked with companies in a wide array of industries, helping bring clarity and direction to their image and advertising campaigns for a younger, Internet savvy consumer base.
In 2006, in cooperation with several different firms, XPLANE created the original version of a video, which is now rapidly making its way around YouTube and the blogosphere, for a Colorado high school staff to start a conversation about what it means for students to be successful in 21st century.
The video paints a picture of the “exponential times,” in which students are growing up, and strongly illustrates the changing face of the world community.
Some of their stronger data includes:
The growth of text messages, which began in 1992 and has exceeded the population of planet.
The changing face of relationships, noting that 1 in 8 married couples met online.
The development of India and China, noting that in 2006 the USA graduated 1.3 million college students, while India graduated 3.1 million (100% of which could speak English), and China graduated 3.3 million.
The changing job market, noting that a person is now likely to have 10-14 jobs by their 38th birthday.
The pervasiveness of technology, noting that 70% of 4-year-olds have used a computer, that there are 2.7 billion searches on Google every month, and that if MySpace were a country, it would be the 8th largest in the world.
How can the church prepare students to engage in this brave new world?
Before Google, where, or to whom, did people go to for answers to their questions?
What relevance do these statistics have for youth workers?
