Lam On Learning

I can’t remember when I first used the internet or when it came about.  It really doesn’t matter, because with the internet, a few key strokes and Voila! I could have my answer…if I was really interested.  It does seem like the internet has been around for ever, and for some students, it has!  The power the internet possesses lies in its ubiquity and its ability to provide information faster than anyone can formulate questions.  But so what?
I concur with the ideas my friend and colleague, James Denby, wrote in his blog post:  The Web Powerful?  Like any tool, it is ultimately how individuals choose to use it that reveals any potential or power.  With the right kind of motivation and the right kind of action, the internet can lead to important change in the world.  Take for example the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) website and Karen Armstrong’s project: building a Charter for Compassion.  The website helps to bring some inspiring ideas to the world through the internet.  Where TED started out as a conference with an elite guestlist, the internet makes the ideas accessible and the popularity of the ideas universal.  Karen Armstrong’s wish is a collaborative project (more on mass collaboration in my next blog) that seeks to bring the best from a community of thinkers and religious leaders in a common effort to spread understanding and compassion, regardless of one’s religion and faith.  Here, a simple idea is given such potential power simply through being shared on the internet. But this is just the first step.  Once ideas are spread, and action taken, therein lies the true power of a seed that is planted in cyberspace. 

~ by vuonteaching on May 3, 2009.