Wisdom of Crowds: Reinventing Educational Activism by Creating Linkages

Saturday Session
How important are linkages to your personal future and to the future of your community? Best seller Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything sends a critical message that individuals can no longer independently learn all they need to know to be successful in the workforce or in their personal lives. In a globally connected world, there is enormous value to tapping into the "wisdom of the crowd" and collaboratively sharing best practices with others.

Join e-learning pioneer Yvonne Marie Andres and financial education specialist Ismo Heikkila for a look at how interactive, real-world projects linking students, mentors, and the world community are offering exciting potential for gains in cultural understanding, financial literacy, and career preparedness.

You will have a rare opportunity to meet future-thinking youth and teachers participating in International CyberFair 2011: Take Action and Unite Communities. They will present innovative projects that focus on how the positive actions and contributions of their local citizens have the power to improve, preserve, and unite their community.

Who should attend: This presentation will be of interest to thought leaders working in K12, higher education, and employee education. The session will challenge the audience to move from vision to action—and to move from awareness to practice—by exploring answers to question of what individuals, corporations, policy makers, or educators can do.

What you’ll learn: Attendees will learn about social media tools that are reinventing educational activism and empowering people across all industries to become lifelong learners.

How this new knowledge can be applied: This cross-generational panel introduces different innovative scenarios to engage people of all ages in meaningful learning exchanges that foster teamwork, encourage workforce preparedness, and create multicultural understanding.

Yvonne Marie Andres, president and founder, Global SchoolNet, Educational Activism: Financial Literacy, Encinitas, California

Ismo Heikkila, national director, Financial Education, T.E. Wealth, Canada

key words: international collaboration financial literacy constructivist learning

issue areas: Learning and Education