Frequent readers of this list will already know about Global Learn Day5, October 6 and 7. However, many of their friends and associates in the world of education, training and innovative technology may not.
Therefore this is a frank appeal to forward this commentary. Why bother to read? Why bother to forward? Isn't GLD just another routine announcement of a routine conference? So what if it's virtual? So what if it's physical? What's different about this than that from a gazillion other conference announcements? Here's our response. We think putting on a non stop 24 hour event that features exceptional people undertaking extraordinary activities from 24 time zones is something no one else even attempts, much less will have done for five years in a row. Free to anyone with an Internet connection. Or in some cases a radio. Made possible by volunteers who provide the fuel for a Voyage that begins on the left hand edge of the date line, in Fiji, and ends on its right hand side, somewhere in the Cooks...or is it the Marriana's? We think few would dare to have on the same agenda scientists talking to the audience by ham radio from Antactica; and Africans talking from solar powered telecenters in Nigeria. We think it's pretty unusual that while in the South Pacific our friends there will carry our broadcasts by satellite to people who are scattered over an expanse as wide as all Russia. We think the subject of Conflict Resolution is extremely important. Which is why we had long ago scheduled a stop in Burundi to visit with those close to the agonies of Rwanda. We think our stops in the UAE, Oman, Cairo and Karachi will give insights valuable to those who are far more than an ocean apart. And both our keynotes and our stops in New Delhi, Sao Paolo and Belfast will make clear the role of the radio. We think our stop in Chicago to view recycling of old computers bound for Mexican e-learning centers in Baja will add to the example of some award winning South Americans who took 600 tired machines from America and turned them into 100 plus learning centers in outback Peru. Not to mention their work with Hispanics all over the American mid-West. We think our stop in New Zealand with a young mother who makes her living on the Net and our stop in Australia about "A Development Vehicle in Remote Aboriginal Australia" are just different sides of the same coin. We think that Alfred Bork and Terry Redding are on to something when one writes intensively about very substantial reductions in costs and the other is passionate about the imperatives of lifelong learning. We think Guy Bensusan is blazing a trail where the learners are the ones out front. That more might be accomplished by working with those under twenty than by those over fifty. We think the tools we use to make this event the most interactive conference of all time are not just the finest on the planet; but also the most affordable; and the best integrated. We think our conference is the model of the future, not so much because of it's global reach or innovative technology, but because so much of the content is available in advance and all of it available from the archives. We think that the purpose of any real time meeting is as much to stimulate interest and excitement as it is for dialogue and debate. That while critical thinking comes best from quiet reading and deep reflection, nothing quite concentrates the mind like preparing for an event. And that you don't need to be belly up to the bar to have fun; or meet new friends with something compelling to say. Or learn about an activity worth listening to. We also think that when our very long day is completed, a whole lot of people will better understand the prime message of GLD5 - that education is about convergence - radio, telecenters, e-education, e-training and e-jobs. That there is no single "solution". And, that even with cataclysmic events, changes in long held habits and long held practices is always slow, incremental and fragmentary. Finally this. We hope to make clear our solid understanding of a message sent to us by one of our strongest supporters, Blaine Berger: It reads: "Most people overestimate what can be done in one year; and underestimate what can be done in ten." Global Learn Day5 is halfway to Ten. Is it really possible we will turn our dream to make Global Learn Day as big as Earth Day? That maybe, just maybe, others with deep pockets and great reach will (someday) join us to help prove our vision that Earth Day and Global Learn Day are also different sides of the same (planetary) coin? Please forward this message. That is if you think GLD5 is exceptional. And please forgive duplicates. It is a small world. John Hibbs [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.bfranklin.edu Speaker Agenda http://www.bfranklin.edu/gld5event/summaries.html ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org>
