World University: Difference between revisions

For the time being, World University might offer degrees over a 10 year horizon. So, for example, World University might offer four courses, at first, in every country and in many languages, to be engaged possibly on One Laptop Per Child and video-capable, programmable TheFlip.com-like devices. And people in these countries, of course, can add their own courses or instruction to this Wiki, with knowledge they would like to share. In terms of possible degree-granting, Cal professors, for example, might also teach four courses at the undergraduate level, and one graduate level course, in the fall of 2009, for matriculated students, and with at-large participation possible, simply by having a camera in their classroom, and another instructor in a virtual world. A video-capable, mobile-phone device would allow people who are illiterate to take and post courses to this Wiki. But credit- and degree-granting aren't yet pragmatic. If two paths emerge in World University, - degree and open courses, - MIT Open Course Ware is our model for degree-granting, academic, course work.

While all countries and territories (around 220, perhaps starting with the countries in GlobalVoicesOnline.org), and all languages, (possibly 8,000, but starting with those languages in Wikipedia) will be part of this, we'd like to focus at first on the countries that One Laptop Per Child (emerging from MIT) is also engaging - Rwanda, Ethiopia, Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, USA (Birmingham, Alabama), Uruguay, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Cambodia, & Papua New Guinea - as well as your interests.

Many aspects of learning, which occur in a classroom or learning situation now, are possible to engage interactively in virtual worlds like Second Life today, and these virtual world technologies will develop a lot in the next few years.

People ultimately 'train' their own bodyminds in whatever learning context, and World University may facilitate this in new ways. World University furthers a familiar approach to knowledge generation where learning also occurs through various forms of dialogue and conversation, such as that which occurs in seminars and through libraries, books and journals. And World University will engage the far-reaching potentials of the Information Technology revolution to make learning and teaching - knowledge exchange, very widely construed - global and innovative in ongoing ways.

Envision learning, teaching and idea-exchange anew, building on the existing 'University' and 'School' Here are some tools with which to do so: a Wiki, video, as well as interactive virtual worlds with group type chat, voice, and real time streaming video. :) Add your own.