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January 30, 2006
The World Is Flat
Last week Professor Rick Weibel of Marshall University sent us three great links. The middle one is to an MIT site where you can download Thomas Friedman's address on The World Is Flat. (Search the MIT site for Friedman to find the video). The talk is wonderful! Primarily because of the content, but also because Friedman is a superb speaker. Interesting to watch him warm into his talk. At first he seems a bit awkward, maybe a bit anxious, I think he's using his hands to displace energy and anxiety. (A trick a drama coach once showed me. Displace anxiety physically using props. Make big motions on the board, move chairs around, walk up into the audience, etc.) Anyway, once he warmed up, his talk is spellbinding.
Among many excellent and perceptive comments is his model of globalization. According to Friedman, globalization has proceeded in three stages:
Stage 1: 1492-1820ish Globalization via one's country. Portugal, Spain, the Dutch, England -- through imperialism and other forces, each country expanded its empire across the globe.
Stage 2: 1820ish - 2000 Globalization via one's company. IBM, Coca-Cola, Siemens, Mitsibishi, 3M expanded their global empires via business relationships, and in the process became multi-national companies.
Stage 3: 2000- to present. Globalization via the individual. Using the infrastructure of the Internet and emerging collaborative techniques, individuals globalize themselves. Open source is an excellent example.
How long will it be before we see worldwide collaborative teaching? Probably it's already happening somewhere. Anyone know where?
Posted by DavidK at January 30, 2006 08:12 AM | Permalink