Dear Friends,
A subset of our WikiEducator community, particularly those active in Africa (but not solely) may be interested in attending the Fourth Advanced International Colloquium on Building the Scientific Mind (BtSM for short) to he held at the Sustainability Institute in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from 7 to 11 March 2011. The lead theme for the colloquium is "Learning for Sustainable Futures." You find information about the colloquium at <http://www.learndev.org/BtSM2011.html> http://www.learndev.org/BtSM2011.html. We hold these colloquia every other year and change the venue around the world while also adopting a different lead theme for each of them. I suspect that the theme for 2011 is of special interest to WikiEducators because of the obviously strong connection with the aims pursued by the OER movement. Note that we keep these colloquia small. On the past three occasions (2005, The Hague; 2007, Vancouver; 2009, Cairo) we worked with between 50 and 60 participants. Conversations are thus intimate and effective (unlike the kind of ceremonial debate that often occurs at professional conferences). As to the theme of "Learning for Sustainable Futures", we feel that the challenges the world currently faces in terms of sustained constructive human presence in the biosphere, and the risks involved in not responding adequately and in a timely fashion to such challenges, make a debate about how and what we learn and how learning should be promoted, facilitated and nurtured, both urgent and highly relevant. Within that context we also believe that re-creating in the minds of people the ways of being, thinking, and appreciating the world that are historically most powerfully embodied in the millennia old development of the scientific enterprise, is an important dimension of 'learning for sustainable futures.' We furthermore believe that the spirit of science is not solely represented via the sciences in the narrow sense of the word and that, in fact, it can be found across a wide variety of disciplines and human endeavors, including ones that are not based in a specific discipline. We therefore value the participation in the BtSM dialogue of individuals from diverse backgrounds, particularly those who are able and willing to look beyond the boundaries of their otherwise most respected specializations and persuasions. I would obviously be delighted if some of you who share the above convictions would decide to participate [the relevant form(s) are available at the above URL]. It would be particularly relevant for a Special Interest Group to use the forum of BtSM for exploring the role of OER in cultivating the scientific mind and advancing the aims of 'Learning for Sustainable Futures.' As this time the colloquium takes place in sub-Sahara Africa we seek in the first place participation from that part of the world. However, the colloquium is also a truly international event and we therefore equally welcome participation from other parts of the world. I can be contacted for more information at my personal email address: [email protected]. Jan Visser Check out Learners in a Changing Learning Landscape at http://www.learndev.org/learnland2008.html -- Jan Visser, Ph.D. President & Sr. Researcher, Learning Development Institute E-mail: [email protected] Fax (France): +33-9-505-97347 Fax and voice messages via Internet: +1-928-569-7978 Phone: North America: +1-904-425-1625 France: +33-4-902-49275 France Mobile: +33-6-869-86300 Netherlands: +31-344-605243 Netherlands Mobile: +31-6-429-05944 Check out: http://www.learndev.org and http://www.facebook.com/learndev Blog: http://jvisser-ldi.blogspot.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
