Intoday'sbusinessclimate,noone'sjobiscompletelysecure.Whileyourspecificjobmaybenecessarytoday,thatdoesnotmeanitwillbenecessarytomorrow.Asthefutureworkplacecontinuestoevolve,manyemployeeswhodon'tconsistentlyupdatetheirskillsandindustryknowledgeoftenfindthemselvesoutofajob.Thisdoesn'thavetohappentoyou.Whenyoutakethestepstounderstandandanticipatefutureandindustrytrendsthatcouldultimatelychangethenatureofyourjob,youtakethefirststeptolifelonglearning

　　Thefactisthatjobsinalmosteveryindustryarebeingtotallyrevampedinorderfororganizationstoremaincompetitive.Areyouawareofthetrends,ideas,innovationsandadvancementsinyourfieldthatmightbringaboutseriouschangeinyourorganizationthisyear?Infiveyears?Howwillthesetrendsaffectyourjob?Whatisyourfuturegoingtolooklike?Ifyouwanttostayemployed,youmustknowwhatwillbeexpectedofyoudowntheroad.Whatskillsdoyouhavethatwillbeobsolete?Whatskillswillbeneededthatyoudon'thaveyet?

　　Alltheknowledgewehavetodaywillrepresentonly1%oftheknowledgethatwillbeavailablein2050.Inotherwords,wecanneverstoplearning.Therewillalwaysbemoretoknow.Andthemoreyouknow,thebetterchanceyouhaveofstayingemployed.Howhaveyourespondedtotechnologicalchanges,aswellasalloftheotherchangesthataregoingonintheworkplace?Doyouacceptnewresponsibilitiesandchallengesandseethemasopportunitiestoincreaseyourvaluetoyouremployer?Beforeyougetleftbehindwithinadequateskills,helpyouidentifywaystoenhanceyourcurrentskills.

　　Myviewonsurfingthevirtualworld

　　Virtualworldshavebecomeagrowingpowerinkids'onlineactivities.In2008,anestimatedeightmillionUSchildrenandteensvisitedvirtualworldsonaregularbasis.Itisestimatedthatby2013thisnumberwillbedoubled.Theseonlineworldsarearelativelynewphenomenon,sothereisn'tmuchresearchontheirimpactonkids.Asparents,weask:Isitsafe?Isiteducational?Doourchildrenbenefitfromthisactivity?Inlackoflong-termresearchthebestanswerseemstobethatlikeeveryotheractivitywechoosetodo,whenitismeasuredandinbalancewithotheractivities,itcanbeenjoyable,harmlessandsometimeseveneducational.Itisourresponsibilityasparentstodirectourchildrentosafeconstructiveactivitiesthatwillhelpthemtogrowaspeopleandbecomecontributingcitizens.Thesamethingistrueforchoosingonlineactivitiesforthemandspecificallyforvirtualworlds.Asparentswehavetomakesurethatourchildrenvisitvirtualworldsthataresuitedfortheirageandaresafeforthem.Wealsowanttodirectourchildrentovirtualworldsthatofferqualitycontentandeducationalvalue.