Hi KidLeadrs,
On returning from NECC, I'd like to share a freeform piece, which provides metaphors for reflections on the meeting (for all who were or were not there). Sitting in the audience, watching Dan, Claus, Lara, Jamie, Mary, Oscar, Alenca, Mark and Patti, I was moved to tears by the beauty they've helped all of us participate in. For my money, it was the best moment at NECC.
Enjoy!
Ferdi
Take the knowledge from any age - in Africa, your hue may come from the sun or from the earth, but the beat comes up through your feet towards the sky. The Greeks' lever of Archimedes, moving worlds, required only a place to stand. Force magnified by fulcrum, whether orbit or point of view: NASA uses the same tool today, and will tomorrow.
Newton points the way, and our gravity slingshot amplifies the most powerful forces we can muster (which are in fact puny on nature's scale), whipping us round the heaviest point we can find, on our way out from Sol's grasp, towards we know not what, but certainly beyond the stretches of our own mortality, where thought and possibly spirit alone can travel.
Same with music. Get next to the heaviest cats you can understand, pay the dues to deal with the masters (the giants upon whose shoulders *they* have stood), whip around their profundity and go off to discover your own. The trails shine out like a burst of fireworks, triumphant before they extinguish, lighting, inspiring, prelude to the next. Sun Ra's angels in space.
A lifetime's liberation is only a mind away. A way of life, time to liberate by linking your mind with others, in reflection, action, reaction and collaboration. Now we read, see,... soon we hear, feel, beginning to know enough to guide new actions that fill the moments we *do* have while we're here with a richness no one could have forseen, who was not a sage or poet. Art is brought to living, within reach of anyone willing to learn every day, too high a price for many still, but each new person causing the darkness to recede just a little, perhaps just enough to enable yet another to say "Yes" to the challenge.
(those of you prefer more grounded expression may now delete everything above this point, the poetically inclined may delete that below, the curious are on their own! ;->)
What's This Got to do with Anything?
I thought you'd ask.
At NECC it became poignantly clear to me that we are the stars in each others galaxies. Yes, it is too big. Yes, there are too many workshops, too much to see. And yet our 5,000 peers represent a whopping .25% of teachers. Those not there (3,999 out of 4,000) are not a vacuum, those who resist computers or even learning are not black holes. It is, however, our responsibility to reach out to everyone who life brings into our contact range and connect with them, first as human beings, and secondly to welcome them as potential members of our growing community.
You never know for whom you may serve as an influence. I saw it countless times each hour, and saw how this incredibly talented, curious and energetic collection of individuals grouped, regrouped and got set to make things happen when they get home. The heaviest talents you see on the net are (usually) approachable, and as people get to know one another, by their thoughts and works, evermore "stars" come into view. I mean this in the celestial, navigational (as opposed to People magazine) sense; guideposts and pivot points, we can learn from one another as never before in history.
One major insight that arose during a CoSN birds of a feather session came from a "newbie" who'd lurked on lists for a while and decided that we're "too far along", that the distance required to "catch up" was impossible, and increasing daily as more and more "high end" uses of the internet take up more and more of our consciousness (as measured by lines of discussion). We didn't seem to be a "friendly" space. We need to think long and hard on this one.
Another insight was the incredible power of the KidLink session, where 9 individuals described the wonderful evolving resource for students and their teachers, tackling real problems in a real way. When the question "how are you funded" was answered by "not at all", a silent wave of shock rolled through the huge room as the implications of volunteer dedication, sharing and love, as a slide show of graphics created by kids the world over splashed across a large screen. Their committment to "low end" solutions, to ensure that the maximum number of kids could participate the world over is instructive to those of us who rely on new machines with good connectivity. Some of the stars we need to reach for may be behind us.
In conclusion, it's about people. Participate! Online, offline, in the checkout line...take every opportunity to promote lifelong learning. Model it yourself by your use of technology, to share what you know, and approach others who know what you need to know. The results will move us to a new world.
Ferdi
Fri, 17 Jun 1994 11:19:19 -0500