Using technology we have

The timing of simulated learning couldn't have been better planned.  Mark and I were meeting last week and started talking about using the technology we already have available.  For years airplane pilots have been completing training in flight simulators.  What a perfect opportunity for them to learn flying techniques under various conditions without the worry of harm to others.  We obviously place a great deal of trust in the effectiveness of flight simulation training as we take to the air with the confidence that pilots are well-trained and prepared to react on a moments notice to shifts in wind patterns, mechanical problems, and hundreds of other scenarios that can occur mid-air.  Why then has it taken us so long to use simulation in classrooms as another educational tool?  The answer most assuredly begins with money, access, and equipment.  These are certainly large hurdles to get over, there has to be opportunities to use what we do have access to in order to provide another way for students to engage in the process of learning.

I've also been thinking a lot about the shift of citizenship from a local focus to more of a global one and the role that each of us plays on the world stage.  It seems that there is not one piece of society that, with the availability of information sharing, is not globally integrated.   I strongly believe that each of us has a responsibility to make the human condition better, but understanding role is quite a challenge.  In the assignments for this week, I was especially excited by earth album and real lives (through Educational Simulations Corporation).   Each of these tools were exciting and engaging and left me wanting to explore more, in fact I'm thinking about downloading the free trial of real lives.  What would be the outcome if 5th, 8th, 11th graders, college freshmen, company executives, educational leaders, politicians took on the role of a world community member that is "living" a different experience than their own? Could the impact be great enough to lead to change in economics, education, the way we conduct business, society on a whole?