Dreaming Big and Transforming Education

I'm currently enrolled in an MBA program in sustainable business and am supposed to be writing a paper right now for my class.  Thanks to my professor, I have been sent on a stimulating journey of discovery that led me to (a) find kindred spirits in Colorado; (b) admiration for a true visionary; and (c) new ideas for how we can use technology to spread ANEO. 

All of this because my professor sent my classmates and me a link to a video on YouTube (see link #1 below -- but please keep reading first).  The statistics about population, education and workforce presented in it are stunning.  Since I am procrastinating from writing my paper, I decided to watch the video at link #2 and then I got really excited.  It is about our Education Works program on speed, and concludes with an invitation to join a global network of educators and citizens talking about how to transform education in the 21st Century (check out previous blog posts for info on EducationWorks).  Education Works is an infant network in Northeast Ohio of business, education, civic and funding leaders dedicated to trying different things in education to move the needle forward on 21st Century Skills.  The final leg of my procrastination journey led me Karl Fisch's blog (he's the visionary behind all these videos) where I found video #3.  In this video, Karl delivers a commencement speech for the graduating high school class of 2020, in which he talks about how technology has transformed education over the last 13 years.  (And I don't mean changed --- I mean totally transformed, as in, nothing like you know it today -- NOTHING like you know it today.)

As we, in Northeast Ohio -- and the nation -- consider embracing change so that we can revitalize our economy and fulfill our personal and societal needs, I am reminded that we need to be guided by a vision.  Karl lays out quite a compelling vision for how we, in 10 years, can transform the world by transforming education. His vision includes innovation by teachers, by parents, by business.  I leave you with three questions before you watch these videos (which will take you 30 minutes in total):

1.  If you dream dreams like Karl presents in video #3, what are you doing to reach them?  How can we help?
2.  If you are moved by the statistics in video #2, and the idea of transforming education, will you get involved in Education Works?
3.  If you believe that we are really a connected world, as demonstrated in video #1, will you please help us (your 4.1 million fellow NEO neighbors) connect with each other?  Use technology as you can, and please feel free to "teach" others how to leverage creativity and technology in our work

Happy Watching:

LINK #1: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Link #2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U&feature=related

Link #3:  (this one opens a blog page, read and scroll down to the video):

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/11/2020-vision.html