There will be no Global Learn Day, Voyage Number Eleven. For the first time in ten years we will not open our event in the South Pacific and close it, 24 hours later, in the Western Pacific.

Our all-volunteer crew will get a good solid rest from the rigors of holding an event which brings together hundreds of exceptional people doing what is arguably the most important work on the planet. Additionally, I get to celebrate my birthday (October 7) without the usual strains of holding an imaginary tiller on an imaginary sailing ship as she makes her way from Tonga, New Zealand and Australia — then west through Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas — and finally — whew! — out to old dear friend Bruce Best in the Western Pacific.

(This year I can wear myself out blowing out 65 candles; but retiring, I’m not!)

I’m not sure if the GLD curtain has come down for the last time; or if a one year absence will revitalize the endeavor? What I am certain about is the pride I can take from ten round-the-world “voyages” that showcased world-class individuals doing world-class work to advance affordable education worldwide.

Blaine thought I should include in this post my regrets. Midi thought I should do some bragging. I will take their advice; but since there is more to boast about than to regret, let me begin with the recall of some good memories.

Who could have guessed that a tiny band of volunteers could launch a “ship” called the Ben Franklin and take it from Tonga to Guam, “the long way around”? Who could have believed, ten years ago, that we could do it every October, for ten consecutive years?

Sure, it was all virtual. But ten years ago, there was no such word as podcasting and the great majority of the world had never visited a web site, much less listened to voices talking to each other from all over the world.

While a relative few were doing some very innovative stuff — experimenting with something called “web-casting” — our crew had mastered how to combine radio, the telephone and the browser. Great speakers came to us because all they had to do was pick up the phone. Large numbers of listeners came to us by way of small community radio stations, easy net listening, the telephone. When Skype came along, those who wanted to listen or talk on the phone, or the Net, could do so for free. And anyone, anywhere, with access to a dial-up modem, could click on relevant web pages and add comments by way of the blog.

As I write this message, how many event organizers can do this even today?

But what good is exceptional technical know-how if the content is not equally worthy?

My answer to this is to be hugely proud that in our ten years of voyaging we’ve featured presidents and prime ministers, chancellors and governors, senators, congressmen and big city mayors. Our guests have included radio station gurus, incredibly talented geeks, and some of the most innovative educators on earth — particularly those in the field of English language training. {“Inside their classrooms are the leaders of tomorrow; and the doorway to the leaders of today.”}

To that end, what other event put together a peace advocate in Thailand with a minister from Florida and professors in Argentina who had “real world” experiences that brought classrooms to thousands who would otherwise have never gotten past the third grade? In every discussion came the same questions - How can this be replicated? How can we improve access to quality education? How can we reduce costs? How can we improve?

What other event teamed Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist (with rightful claim to being “the father of the Internet”) with a Canadian visionary knighted by the Queen for “changing the landscape of education”?

What other event mixed and matched in real time front page leaders from every continent and put them in real time contact with individuals doing heroic work in (very nearly) every country on the planet?

Here was (is?) an all-volunteer effort that brought together voices from scientists in Antarctica, ecologists in outback Brazil, technologists from Nepal mountain tops and cosmonauts from Siberia — using everything but “two tin cans tied to a string” so almost anyone, anywhere could join in the discussion.

It was all great fun — and if you don’t believe that then just listen to Bruce Best speaking from the wee islet of Yap, way, way out in the South Pacific

Bruce says it all!

Listen to Bruce as he engages with English language teachers in Paris, Abu Dhabi, and Kuwait, technocrats in Buenos Aires and New Delhi, students in Kansas, Capetown and Calgary. And a worn-out “skipper” at the University of Oregon, home of the Ducks. Every one of us is utterly spellbound; all of us have tears in our eyes and lumps in our chest. Honest to goodness…Bruce had to take a small sail boat inside a tricky cove, then catch the “right” wave in order to make a broadcast from a beach so remote even Mapquest doesn’t show it. In this one audio recording, Bruce brilliantly captured what Global Learn Day is all about.

Thank you!

Thank you Bruce. And Eric and Terry and Bee and Teresa and Moira and Graciela and Jeff and Vance and Beth and Buth and Alexis and Sir John and Vint and Raf and Arun and TV and Taran and JohnS and Janet and Gabriel and Boris and David and Juan and Jose and Osapo and Kim — and, and, and, — oh how the list goes on and on and on….. You know who you are. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Most of all we are proud of the premise of Global Learn Day. That’s it’s a very good thing to laud those who are doing profoundly notable work in what is arguably the most important element in any society — delivering quality education at an affordable price.

We are proud of our vision that some day these kinds of people should have a chance to win an Award with as much prestige as a Nobel and as much applause as those who walk off with an Oscar.

We remain convinced that Learn Day should be the other side of the Earth Day coin. And just as big. That if we could do this to its fullest potential that it would accelerate access to affordable education — and that’s a very good thing.

Most of all we regret we couldn’t find our own “Queen Isabela”. We regret our inability to convince those with deep pockets that we could make this both self-funding and of very large scale. That the “New World of Education” is as important to the Movers and Shakers of today as the New World was to the kings and queens of the Europe, circa 1492. What we showcased is a landscape sprinkled with enomously talented, enormously busy, hard working people at the front edge of a tidal wave called “distance education.”

The hard reality is that it takes cold hard cash to do all of this “right”. The cold hard reality is that we didn’t think it “fair” to ask our all-volunteer crew to repeat one more Voyage without the backing of a major entity. The only thing that we have yet to prove is our claim that with a modest amount of seed money we can, in time, make GLD “the Earth Day” of learning. That we can sutstain it by marketing professionals employed full time — that our “product” is as appealing to the dot-com world as it is to the dot-edu world.

This too. With a fully funded professional staff we could incorporate into the tasking an ability to organize three, or four or five events that follow the same format as Global Learn Day. 24 hour non-stop events for — Peace Day? ESL Day? Geek Day? Earth Day? Music Day?
Surely there are corporations and foundations who can see the value of reaching some of the most sophisticated people on the planet! Surely there are leaders at the top of large undertakings who agree that good learners make good employees, good citizens, good customers.

The largest regret?

The largest regret I have is my own inability to properly express the depth of my gratitude to those who have sailed with me and made all of this possible. That I have dared to list even a small number of names is probably a mistake; there are hundreds in our archives who should have had far more recognition that our crew has been able to create.

The good news is that if you have read this far, you know who you are. And you know how much appreciation I have for the work you do.
Thank you for bringing so much brightness to a stage that should have more amerage — and more applause.
John Hibbs

Eugene Oregon

Poodwaddle.com

Mr. Vint Cerf,
Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist
Google
Dear Vint:

“No good deed goes unpunished.” The “good deeds” of your keynotes for Global Learn Day, and our exchanges since, are the primer for what follows. Knowing how busy you are, this is way too long. But the subject is too important for brevity, especially for those of our cast of mind. So I won’t apologize.

Let me begin.

I. Introduction — Preface Statement {from GoogleJobSite}

“Have you ever imagined applying your education and experience to benefit millions of people around the world? If so ….. We’d love to hear from you.”

Vint, I am taking the above statement to heart with a proposition that I’m optimistic will resonate well with you. It rests on premises on which we both believe: That there is little hope for a “safer, saner world” without significant increases to access to education, worldwide; that there is a heavy value in effective, imaginative advocacy; that those with robust global experiences make good navigators, especially for those in search of hard-to-reach destinations.

This too makes me optimistic — Nobody, anywhere, has been more vocal than you in stating the obvious: That Google’s profits are directly related to the level of education inside every society where it operates.

Thus, this message - this appeal - to you.

The short of it is that Google — a great company with a grand mission — is not coming within a long country mile of matching its rhetoric to “benefit millions” with its (educational) performance; that Eric Schmidt has it exactly right that a “small team running hard” can make “big changes”; that I have uncommon abilities to help raise Google’s image as the planet’s leading advocate for increasing access to learning, worldwide.

The long of it is my contention we are at the tipping point for the launch of a runaway freight train in education deliveries of a kind people like you, Sir John and I have long advocated; that Google has the heft that could power the locomotive; that Google shareholders would profit hugely from the haulage.

The strength of it is that your own position, Google’s mission, its management culture and my advocacy talents make for a terrific match.

What triggered this were the exchanges between you and Sir John (about the need for new thinking about intellectual property rights in the digital age) and Eric Schmidt’s recent comments “that fast learners win”.

In your case, the exchange with Sir John about thorny problems about intellectual property rights, I say, are potent seeds building a brilliant team that would advocate new agreements that would make for significant cost reductions in education deliveries. In Eric’s case, the flip side to his “fast learners win” is that his statement provokes tough, corollary questions: What about those who don’t learn at all? What moral obligation does Google have to them? What profits are left behind when one, two or three billion never touch a keyboard?

These are issues that deserve heavy-duty contemplation, especially by those leading a grand company with a grand mission. They are also like red meat to lions — this stuff attracts rare birds who can make big changes. The kind of people, the kind of changes, that would serve Google very, very well.

With smart helmsmanship, all of it is a good starting point for “small teams running fast”. From such platforms, I say, the next leap is possible — new freight trains of a kind Google should help construct.

II. GOOGLE EDUCATION - Waves or ripples? What do these canaries have to say?

Is Google making the kind of waves it should in the education arena? Given the culture of the company and the benefits to it from really significant reductions in the cost of education, is Google thinking big enough?

Sure….Google Educator is fine. But it ain’t Don King’s Thrilla in Manila - a title fight that ultimately unseated the kingdom of Madison Square Garden, changed sports broadcasting forever and brought enormous profits for both athletes and visionaries.

As I said in every Global Learn Day opening there’s a lot to be learned from guys like Don King — who could put two and two together — and come up with six. Or eight.

Google - underperforming in the Education Arena?

How is Google doing in the education arena? Let’s examine a few canaries that I believe should trouble Google’s leadership.

Let’s start with two canaries inside Google’s Educator that are worth listening to:

Canary One: QTEL

“……five-day programs that combine intensive seminar, lecture, and small-group work. These institutes (sic) will take place at the Golden Gate Club in San Francisco……”

Canary Two: Google Teacher Academy

“…..the Academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products…..”

Each of the above requires highly qualified, carefully (expensively?) screened American teachers to come to a physical location - on a very limited basis. Neither acknowledges, much less adopts, the fact that distance education and on-line conferences are worth their weight in gold.

Contrast what Google is doing to how Sir John is meeting the challenge “….to enroll a billion new students inside classrooms in 51 countries“.

Is Google thinking in the billions? And if not, why not?

A Quick Comparison

Where Educator’s programs are limited, traditional, USA centric and delivered conventionally face-to-face, Sir John’s are global, heavily collaborative, highly innovative and tailored by way of very imaginative ‘bottom-up/top down’ constructs.

This is not surprising in that Sir John earned his knighthood “changing the landscape of higher education in the UK” .

But for Google, with all it’s size, cash, technology apparatus, and mission to “benefit the world” - the comparison in terms of reach, scope and ambition is astonishing. Even - should I say this? - dumbfounding.

Here are two more canaries that shriek even louder

Canary Three: Senior Management at Google
I find it disappointing that in both the Executive Management Group, and the Google Management Group, there is not one single person with a title such as “Chief Education Evangelist” or “Senior Vice President, Education”.

How does the absence of same square with this from Google’s web site -
“Have you ever imagined applying your education and experience to benefit millions of people around the world? …… We are focused on providing an environment where talented, hard working people are rewarded for contributions to Google and for making the world a better place.” {Larry Page, Google Co-founder, Stanford University}

How does the absence of a “Senior Manager” square with the idea that “education is the killer application of the Net”?

How is it that when one enters the words “education advocate” into Google’s search engine that its own heft does not cause it to glisten with links favorable to Google Education? Do I dare add — Why is it so hard to find your way around the “education” part of the Google site?

Canary Four: From Google Jobs Site:
“We’re looking for the brightest minds in engineering, sales, advertising, business, marketing, product management, and finance to help us develop new technologies, new products and new media formats.”

Engineering. Sales. Advertising. Business. Marketing. Product Management. Finance. New products. New media formats.

Whoa Nelly! What about Education?

Like the dog that didn’t bark, I find it very significant that the word “education” doesn’t appear on some of the most important web pages of the Google site. Am I missing something? Where does “education” rank on the Google totem pole?

How does all this square with the world’s leading search engine for educators all around the world? How does it square with Google’s grand vision “to do well and to do good”?

III. SOME HARD QUESTIONS FOR GOOGLE

Very recently Eric Schmidt said “…fast learners win.”

You bet!

Vint, let me ask you this –When Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt get up every morning, shouldn’t some of their questions be along these lines: “How is Google changing the landscape of education, worldwide? How many brand new students are enrolled because of Google? Are we just a tools and search provider? Or are we a Movement Leader?”

Here are some additional questions for folks lower on the Google totem pole:

Who is keeping track of how many radio stations broadcast Google’s Daily (education) Message?
How many (education) podcasts did Google push out last week?
How can we leverage community radio in ways that are both profitable and have big impact?
How many English language teachers, in how many countries, has Google signed up this week?
If ESL students are the leaders of tomorrow, what plans does Google have for reaching them today?
How many of these could be agents-of-education-change?
Which events should Google’s key people be spotlighting this month?
How can Google’s leadership, across the board, add more intellectual and advocacy muscle?
How many big (education) (sponsor) gorillas have been added, this week? this month?
What’s on the drawing board to have a Google Award in education equal to a Nobel? (and other very imaginative stuff)
How are we doing against the Google Education Benchmarks?
How do we take our Report Card from a C minus, minus, to an A plus plus?

And finally -

Who exactly is in charge of tying all of this to our mission and profit objectives? What place does he or she hold on the Google totem pole?

IV. BRINGING THE GORILLAS TOGETHER - Starting with the Commonwealth of Learning

The two gorillas in education and technology are Google and the Commonwealth of Learning. I say they can leverage off each other in ways that would cause many other gorillas to come aboard. All of this could lead to a runaway freight train crashing barriers to lower costs - and increasing access to learning- all across the globe.

I say Google is in position to put its name on the engine plate for a locomotive that leads - and pulls - this train. I say if we do it right the cash outlays will be modest and the publicity whopping. I say the job isn’t about Google delivering the classrooms. It’s about showcasing those that do. Big time.

V. HOW TO START? - The “Commons” Issue - A good starting point?

Like eating an elephant, issues of such magnitude make for hard choices about where to begin the chew. My suspicion is there is some low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of a widely accepted agreement (and broad use) of “a Commons License”. While the subject is far too complicated to do more than lightly mention, the fact is that you and Sir John pointed the way with these remarks on GLD Ten:

Sir John Daniels: “Can I just chip in that common standards should also include common standards on intellectual property and I think that the Creative Commons model is extremely important.”

Vint Cerf: “What a good point. Thank you for bringing that up Sir John and another non-technical but very, very important element in our digital environment. Our understanding of intellectual property in the digital ages is still very murky and terribly encumbered by old models which don’t adapt well to this new environment.”

In the months since that exchange I have come to a better understanding of this thorny imperative. The importance of the issue is difficult to overstate. In fact, many people for whom I have deep, deep respect argue that without wide adoption of a “good Commons Agreement” the chances for large cost reductions in education delivery are just about zero.

If Google can be a big part of the “Commons” solution I say it will gain a large stride toward reaching its goal to:

“To organize the world’s information
and make it universally accessible and useful.”

My sense is our opening discussions should allow time for brainstorming the “Commons” issue. Traders have good noses. Mine tells me these are the makings for consequential outcomes engineered by people “from Prague to Perth” — people who have been on my radar screen a long, long time.

VI. WHY HIBBS? ….and what’s next?

In the last dozen years I’ve mapped just about every small and large anchorage in the education world. The best of them are rich sources of talent acquisition, broadcasting mechanism, event management, sponsorship opportunity. Also: In my 20’s and 30’s I spent 15 years overseas — eleven of them for Getz, America’s largest trading company. At Getz, I made some (chest pounding) deals people still talk about.

After that, I spent more time with residence abroad to include twenty more years of globe-trotting for uncommon providers that needed a big-thinking middle-man.

Then I heard John Chambers, CISCO’s C.E.O., make a compelling case that “….education and training is the killer application of the Internet.”

Then I “sailed” here, there and everywhere and became convinced that the road to a safer, saner world runs through learning deliveries affordable to all. And that the people I met along the way could power those deliveries.

I may not be Don King…but I know the way to Manila. If anyone can lead a small team to far destinations - it’s me.

I’d like an opportunity to spread some charts on your navigation tables. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned in ten years of voyaging all the oceans in the education world. I’d like to talk to you about illusions and reality, perception and myth, the role of community radio and the “missing link” between those doing exceptional work in the classroom and those who I think can be profitably, affordably enlisted for the runaway freight train with Google on the engine plate.

I believe if we all sat together we could put two and two together - and come up with eight…or maybe even ten.

That’s what I would like to do.

Sincerely,

John Hibbs

As background, I went to Dublin to plead my case that “community radio” was our best chance to reach a million or more listeners. And that our friends there would help me find a few dozen stations that would be as helpful as NearFM.

Wrong.

Not only were the regular staff at NearFM disinclined to extend themselves to find other stations, even in Ireland, they were not all that excited at “one off” programs that “came around once a year”. While their leader, Jack Bryne, is a true visionary and a gifted writer, and while NearFm has faithfully broadcast segments of GLD for several years, nobody was jumping up and down to make Dublin the “Headquarters” for GLD Eleven; or for that matter, even the “European Headquarters” — at least not without some healthy cash infusions from Sponsors that they hoped I could bring to them.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Jack has written a 90 page thesis called The Noosphere. It was designed as an activist’s framework to make changes of a lasting kind; a motivating piece that, in standard book form, should be on the New York Times Best Seller List. It’s powerful reading for all those concerned about the great issues facing humankind. And why small radio stations scattered all over the world have the opportunity to make changes that will not be made so long as “Corporate Media” crowds out quiet, thoughtful discourse.

The Noosphere is a call to action for thousands of community radio stations to organize themselves in a way that can help people that live around the block and around the world.

Jack’s masterpiece lays out a vision that’s crucially important for a “safer, saner planet”. One that makes crystal clear that good use of “radio” (to include iPods, MP3, sat radio, net streaming) is the very best chance to cause people to think deeply about the serious issues of the day.

What was missing, as Jack candidly admits, was a “Big Idea” that would be the glue that would bind hundreds (thousands?) of community stations to something meaningfully collaborative. How could “we” provide a comfortable umbrella for serious advocates broadcasting serious issues? How could “we” make that umbrella as good for those attending to global warming as those attending to social justice? to those advocating distance education as those advocating Peace Now?

On the twelve hour flight back, I bent myself to this ‘Big Idea’ question. While I am uncertain if the thoughts I generated will be just another “barking dog” - or be of interest to people like Vint Cerf — they went in this direction.

First, what’s the best part of GLD? Some of us believe the best part of GLD is the metaphor “A Voyage of Discovery”. We would contend that explorations and expeditions and leaky vessels and innovative captains and tough sailors and rocky shores and smart navigators and new chart-making and rich treasure-hunting and way-distant horizons are a lot more exciting than conferences and workshops and broadcasts and programs and iPodding and Blackberries and summits and talk, talk, talk.

Which would you rather do — attend a conference in Cleveland or go around the world with Captain Cook? Which is more compelling - the word “Voyage” or the word “webcast”? Which encourages more cooperation — linkage via those doing rare exploration? or those advertising cohort radio programming?

What lessons could we draw from GLD that might apply to the whole world of activist broadcasting?

Next, I thought of information provided by my Navigator, Blaine Berger, about Google’s interest in matching media buyers with audio content providers. Blaine caused me to visit some sites to learn more. These two, in particular were quite illuminating—

ClickZ and business2

Next, I thought of the biggest gorilla in our part of the world, Nike (here in Oregon) and the power of their swoosh and Nike’s tag line “Just Do It“. Shouldn’t we in the business of community outreach be thinking in the same direction? And if so, what could be our “swoosh”? What could be our tag line?

The questions I began asking included these:

1. How hard would it be to get hundreds of radio stations to “tag” their best stuff with a logo that centered around the word “Voyage”?

2. How could we do this on a completely open source basis?

3. Of what interest would a multitude of “Voyage Programs” (V-Programs?) be to Google? Amazon? Yahoo? Oracle? The University of Phoenix? The University of Oregon? Planned Parenthood? Save the Childen? Global Learn Day? Commonwealth of Learning? Google Scholar? Thinkquest?

4. What about “Grand Voyages”. If the content is already stored, how hard could it be to put on (monthly? quarterly?) 24 hour, round-the world Grand Voyages — each one focused on a particular Very Large Issue?

5. Wouldn’t there be a lot more interest by a “Queen” to help jump start hundreds of Voyages which “sailed” from all parts of the world, every day, than there would be to fund a Voyage that was not much more than small rowboat and hungry crew? That sailed once a year?

6. Which was a better path to large audiences for GLD — one where we “went it alone” and carved our own path? Or one where we benefited from Voyages by other “captains” using “ports” of a kind likely to be friendly to visits from the Ben Franklin?

7. If the power was in the metaphor, why not attach the metaphor to the best stuff that is flooding the audio world? Why not get the boys at Google to figure out how to match Air Lingus to Voyage Programs broadcast in Dublin, Boston, New York and Chicago? Why not couple the power of the Voyage Metaphor with a matchmaking tool that dummies like me could use for GLD?

8. If I were the money-boys at Google, would they believe I could get the Voyage Tag attached to the “best” broadcasts by important thought-makers reaching important, niche markets? Would this be of more appeal than asking for dough for Voyage Number XI, under the banner Global Learn Day? And if so, what are the complementary advantages to doing both?

9. And this too. If I were running a small station in Cairo or Capetown, Prague or Perth, would I want to be part of a Voyage Network? Would I want to attract sponsors in London or New York if I was all alone doing good stuff in Seoul or Santiago? Would I want the best stuff I was sending to Spaniards in Barcelona be heard by Mexicans in Monterey?

That’s what I pondered. All the way from Dublin to Eugene.

Leonard screened a documentary he has made about how the media can join the fight against HIV/AIDS at the International Youth Parliament 2004 in Sydney, Australia, Karlsruhe Germany and within Tanzania communities. He has worked to develop new strategies to help fight the isolation experienced by youths living with HIV/AIDS. He and his fellow IYP Action partners founded the Tanzanian Youth Network (TYN), which is in its first implementation stages, operating as a youth network and platform for social change in Tanzania. He is a Chairperson of the Tanzanian Youth Network.

Supported by UNICEF Tanzania, he visited 11 Tanzanian regions, providing educational feedback and information on the IYP 2004 through dialogues, meeting with young people, and getting inputs for establishing a Tanzania Youth Parliament (TYP), which changed the name to Tanzanian Youth Network (TYN). Leonard succeeded in using the media for his aims and reported a great awareness of IYP due to huge media coverage, as well as announcement of the trips to the different parts of the country.

In July of 2000, Leonard Boniface founded The Teenage Life Program (TELIP) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, which focuses on HIV/AIDS, Culture, Millennium Development Goals, and related information . In 2001, he spoke to the student body of the University of Botswana.

Leonard attended the International Student Week in Tanzania 2002. He collaborated with University of Botswana Student Council and the Red Cross of Botswana’s Youth Unit about his research on HIV/AIDS, staying and working for over two months in Gaborone, Botswana.

The documentary debuted in the Tanzanian mass media and was presented at the 2003 World Youth Congress in Morocco , as well as the International Youth Parliament 2004 in Sydney. In 2003, Leonard addressed the Tanzania Parliament through its Tanzania Parliamentary AIDS Coalition (TAPAC) on new strategies for combating HIV/AIDS.

He attended the World Youth Congress 2003 in Casablanca, Morocco, as the sole Tanzanian representative, and was selected to assist in writing the post-Congress report (Target 2015). The report was based on United Nations Millennium Development Goals. He was among the three youths selected to represent Tanzania to the International Youth Parliament 2004 in Sydney, Australia. He has been an Oxfam-International Youth Parliament Action Partner since 2004.

Leonard travels extensively, visiting many regions of Tanzania, and speaking at schools, organizations and communities, as well as HIV/AIDS orphanages. At these sites, he teaches HIV/AIDS prevention and disseminates information. He was selected as Student of the Year in 2002 and 2003 at Dar Es Salaam School of Journalism, because of his work for social change at home and abroad.

He attended the International Youth Humanism Conference 2004 in Kampala, Uganda, and conducted a HIV/AIDS Workshop. He is a regular radio presenter on Radio Tumaini’s program, “Sisi sote ni Wamisionari” (All of Us Are Missionaries), and has been interviewed on the BBC, ABC, DW, Morocco TV, SBS, CBS, TIG and other media houses in Tanzania. He attended the Students for Sustainability International Conference 2004 in Botswana.

Further, he has also attended the Political Strategies for Youth Organization Seminar 2005 in Saarbrucken, Germany, sponsored by Friedrich Nauman Foundation. He was invited to Karlsuhe, GermanyHe uses music to get his messages across, having written two songs: “Millennium Development Goals” and “Heshima” (which is translated as “Respect”, and is available on Internet at and on MTV’s Staying Alive website here The songs have been broadcast enough to gain popularity all over the continent.

He attended the ‘’One World'’ Student Days 2005 in Germany as a Guest Speaker, under the invitation of Karlsruhe ’s First Mayor, Siegfried Konig. To further his work, Leonard filmed and produced a video documentary on “HIV/AIDS and its Impact on Tanzanian Young People”. He was co-organizer for the International Youth Leadership Conference 2006 held in Marangu, Kilimanjaro.

Leonard has also worked to find contacts and free ARV drugs for those who are HIV+. As a journalist, he disseminates news and information on opportunities for young people at the local and international levels, especially regarding social change. He has tried to help youth to “be the change”, and to engage effectively in youth efforts to participate in change and development . He was among of the abstract reviewers for the International AIDS Conference 2006 to be held in Toronto.

Leonard attend the International AIDS Conference in August 2006 Toronto, Canada as a delegate and facilitator on “The Impact of Mass Media and Culture on Combating HIV/AIDS among Tanzanian Young People”. Also, Leonard attended the youth pre-conference held in Toronto Canada, and addressed two sessions with peers on “Mass Media and Communication”. He co-produced on MTV’s “48 Fest” an HIV/AIDS film called Legends which can be viewed online here.

Leonard is also a member of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS; the international arts and media coalition, ActALIVE–whose members use the arts to address HIV/AIDS and development–and TakingITGlobal, among other organizations.

Good recordings here

Prelude: Listen to this fine recording from GLD, the Inaugural listen here
Listen to the GLD theme song, Enya’s “Sail Away, Sail Away — listen here

1. Opening remarks from John Hibbs Listen here

2. Keynote conversation between Vint Cerf and Sir John Daniel. Listen here

3. South Pacific From Annette Stock comes this lovely, lovely rendition of the New Zealand National Anthem — so wonderful we might play at every GLD Opening. Listen here

4. Lynda Dyer from Sydney Listen here

5. Opening Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere from Derek Keats. Listen here

6. East Asia - Japanese 101 - A great recording - Listen here

7. South Asia - Dr. Arun Mehta and Dr. T. V. Raman Listen here

8. Naomi Lewin Classics for Kids, listen here

9. Buth, from the Gulf. A MUST listen listen here

7. Bruce Best, Central Pacific - Highlight of the Voyage? Listen here

PROBLEMS FOUND HERE

8. Classics for Kids. An update from Bob Zwick - 404 found here
http://www.cottagemicro.com/gld10/playlist/classicsforkids.mp3

9. Buth Remarks from the Gulf — Problems with this URL
http://www.cottagemicro.com/gld10/playlist/gldx_buth.mp3

10. Unidentified url and 404
http://www.cottagemicro.com/gld10/playlist/globallearnday.mp3

11. Opening Ceremony 404
http://www.cottagemicro.com/gld10/playlist/openingceremony.mp3

We admit to some worry about Michael’s presence. He’s just returned from New Zealand where just about the smartest e-educators on the planet gathered; the good news is they rode all over the place sharing, sharing, sharing. The bad news is a trip like that leaves one pretty brain-dead for a long time. I can assure you this will not be the case with Michael.

Let’s hope I did not make his job harder. We put a brand new wrinkle into the Opening - at the end of it we will play a 20 minute recording from Derek Keats in South Africa, welcoming our ship to the Southern Hemisphere. Annette Stock, a Kiwi from Rotorua, North Island, will follow with a welcome of her own….followed by Michael who will keynote, followed by Annette and her presentation about how she uses rap music to do her own magic…..followed by conversation, I suspect, from many of those who went on the Kiwi road trip a couple weeks ago.

Here are some links about Michael…a great guy who I had the pleasure of having as a guest in my home in San Diego:

Michael Coglin links:

Michael’s home page and his Articles/Presentations

A podcast - Indigenous Knowledge Traditions and the Future of Networked Learning click here

The Future of Learning in a Networked Learning Conference click here

Michael Christie: Aboriginal Knowledge Traditions and Digital Technology click here

His bio found here — where he writes:

In the Asian society, the next step up for my generation was to become an engineer, or applied scientist, or some aspect of the corporate world. In my case, with the influence of speech and debate, I chose law. And in order to support my goals at that time I went into teaching. After a few years into teaching I discovered that the legal profession was not for me so I continued in teaching for the next fourteen years, and thoroughly enjoyed my efforts, students, and work .

Here are some additional links that will help you find out more about this very interesting learner, teacher, businessman.

www.realteachers.org/

www.realteachers.org/debate/kerr.htm

http://www.realteachers.org/debate/nfl.htm

http://www.realteachers.org/hiu

http://www.realteachers.org/china

http://www.realteachers.org/china
http://www.realteachers.org/hilc

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Bob Zwick bobzwick AT talkingcommunities DOT com

Dr. Midi Cox — midi AT bfranklin DOT edu

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