Experiencing Just How Flat Our World Is

Last Saturday, I was able to experience firsthand just how flat our world truly has become.  Through my Personal Learning Network, I heard about the Flat Classroom Conference that was happening in Qatar.  I am amazed and inspired by the fact that they were able to have so many schools from all over the world participate in such an excited project.  Some of the student reflections have started to appear online and it is incredible to see the personal growth that they went through as a result of this experience.  

Leading off the conference was a Question and Answer session with the author who inspired the teachers who created this project, Tom Friedman, who wrote The World is Flat.  However, Tom Friedman was at his house in Washington, D.C., and was speaking to the conference via Skype.  In addition to all of that, Steve Hargadon, who was in Philadelphia at Educon 2.1, created a virtual link up for other educators who wanted to participate in the conference and listen to Tom Friedman.  As a result of all of that interconnectedness, I was able to listen to Tom Friedman (in D.C.) answer questions from students all over the world (in Qatar) via the web.  

As I mentioned above, Educon 2.1 was also going on at the same weekend.  Also via my PLN, I was able to watch presentations/conversations from this "unconference" in Philadelphia.  

I am running out of superlatives to describe how excited I am about this age of hyper-connectivity we are living in.  The impact of all of this on education is just beginning to be felt.  And if this past weekends activities are any indication, the possibilities are endless.  I can't wait to get started teaching and incorporate all of this into my classroom.