Globalization is the idea that our world is becoming a unified whole with little or no cultural or social conflict. This central idea of globalization is conducive to the idea of education. For a student seeking to extend boundaries and break barriers, globalization provides an opportunity of a lifetime. Globalization has merits and demerits in economics, business and politics. In education it has merits for students and educators but there is also a sense of an unhealthy takeover of education by market forces. Broadly considered, however, Globalization is freeing the world of education from limitations.
Globalization Makes Education More International
Globalization has made the world a smaller place. Job opportunities are open worldwide and the more "international" a student's education, the greater the possibilities. The purpose of education is to prepare a person for the world, and globalization ensures that. Unlike Imperialism or Colonialism, Globalization has positive connotations -- exposing a student who has had a global education to become a citizen of the world.
The "Commodification" of Education
Institutions of higher learning are increasingly "commodifying" their programs to address a global audience. This branding and marketing of education makes learning, a product that can be sold. Attached to this idea is the aggressive selling policy of advertisers who treat students as consumers, and education as a buyer's market. Long-distance learning, tailored MBA programs, evening degrees are examples of how the increasing effects of globalization has influenced educators into serving education as a commodity in a labor market.
Internet Links
With the advent and massive spread of Internet facilities worldwide, education is at hand for everyone who has access to a computer. Self-directed learning is a way of using tools and techniques to acquire an education from an institution or tutor seated at the opposite end of the globe. Globalization has made education and learning accessible to people previously denied a chance to educate themselves.
A Global Culture
If education is a means of enlightenment and growth of knowledge, then globalization has unified and stretched the application of this idea to previously isolated countries and cultures that are now exposed and mixed as one mass. With easier and faster communication comes greater exposure of distant and alien cultures. Globalization has increasingly made learners worldwide more aware of global issues and problems that are changing the face of the world. The dangers and comforts of a global culture are making learners more savvy to a shrinking world.