As I sit here at Logan Airport (and a shout out to the TSA guard who teased me about the number of electronic devices in my backpack....), I am just starting to process my experiences. I will start with a story of my morning today... I was in a break out informal session on Faculty/Staff Development. Circled up were educators from Tanzania, China, Madagascar, Micronesia, Phillippines, India, Australia, Spain... After sharing challenges and successes the question was asked "Can we continue to share resources beyond this time and space?". Within 2 minutes the moderator from India had volunteers from each major region (guess who is representing the United States?) providing emails for a listserv. Within 5 minutes, the Australians had a Wordpress blog set up. Instant, global connections...sharing resources, ideas and a passion for educating young people was realized.
I write this reflection to tell this story. Technology empowers relationships. 450 years ago, St. Ignatius could not have imagined the potential we have in 2012 for connections. It was difficult if not impossible to communicate across nations. Imagining these global relationships was a focus of ICJSE... and I feel applies to all in education. I leave you with this reflection from Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ as we enter this 2012-13 school year:
What if...the art of education was about making the impossible possible?
Today I saw the impossiblity of global collaboration made possible. Going forth into the world, with a click and a little imagination for the children across the globe.
No comments:
Post a Comment