WHY NOT SAVE THE WORLD?

We live in a world hurtling toward the future. Like Thomas L. Friedman, I had thought that I had a firm grasp on the future of education in my field. After all I was and still am creating a cutting-edge middle school biotechnology curriculum. But while I am sleeping (that is, focused intensely on curriculum development) the world of education is being radically transformed. Thomas Friedman’s thesis of a flattening world has inspired a rapid response by forward-thinking educators across the globe. Here are but a few snapshots of how Friedman’s ideas have been reconfigured, remixed and re-published over the web into various multi-media presentations. This happens overnight. I view this entry into my own blog as a continuation of that same process.

The following is a slideshow that is a transformation of the YouTube video which follows below. It is but one example of how ideas and content are being rapidly transformed and redistributed. (N.B. Educators - your school district may block the feed from these sites, especially YouTube for obvious reasons.)

Here is the latest version of the YouTube video, a redesign of the original PowerPoint presentation that was itself a remix of other material. It was produced in August 2006 by Karl Fisch and published on his blog. His wiki states that by June of 2007 over 5 million people had seen the video. The latest version provides some thought provoking questions for teachers, parents and school administrators.

Download Video: Posted by mcleod at TeacherTube.com.

As an educator, I have to ask myself, how am I preparing my students to live in this rapidly changing world? I am determined to do so and this blog will chronicle my attempts. In the meantime, I am collecting the tools that will enable me to join in and participate in the global playground for educators.

I hope I see you there.

1. WikiSpaces allows teachers and students to collaborate on educational projects across the globe, an award-winning example is The Flat Classroom Project
2. Edublogs provides teachers with a free blogspace. An examplary blog for keeping up with the latest instructional technologies is The Infinite Thinking Machine
3. SlideShare allows you to share powerful educational presentations like the Shift Happens slide show shown above.
4. Google Presentations allows multiple authors to create dynamic presentations online, A collaborative Google Presentation on Using Google Presentations
5. DivShare provides unlimited storage for creating a repository of instructional multi-media.
6. FlashMeeting is for video conferencing with other educators across the globe. This free web-based tool also automatically archives your conversations for asynchronous review.