(CNN) - With all the buzz about SOPA and PIPA you may have missed another important acronym: OPEN.
The OPEN Act is being touted by its sponsor as the moderate alternative to those other two…
OPEN - an act to replace the SOPA/PIPA acts, which I am sure you have heard about (if you did not, make sure you google these terms).
What is so special about OPEN is the way it is being elaborated - in a collaborative way, where the whole internet can be a part of this act, as one.
Collaborative and participative process to define together how we want the world we live in to look like are expected to be more and more numerous, but meanwhile this piece of legislation is an interesting step toward a world in which citizen of the world are able to work together.
This short video is making evident the fact that communication is not about the information but about its meaning, which is a complexe mix of emotional data resulting from a specific context.
While there is not enought data to assess how good educational system was at training the young generation about human communication, the richness of existing complementary training program in this area, seems to indicate that for most people, this topic was not grasped thouroughly during their school years.
Actually, communication as a social skill requires more that to master message formatting technology and desktop publish. Preparing a power point is not communicating, but it is merely a nice packaging for raw information.
How to convey this information is actually more about how good can one connect to the audience, and create a relationship with the public.
People value connection. To learn how to communicate, we need to teach how to connect with each other.
Projet Citoyen was an interesting learning exercice for the kids in East Dunbartonshire schools, at least that is what it seems when you read there blog. An international experience, of cultural exchange, is something vital in today’s world. Our world demand more people able to understand there neighbourg, especially if this one does not belong to the same culture as I do.
While the project is not recent, I feel it is a pity such an innovative experience does not happen more often, and in more schools. One of the reason why Europe today is suffering from the crisis, stem partially from the lack of shared culture, and mutual understanding between different European nations.
If sixty years ago, the funders of Europe were dreaming of a europe living in peace, and common understanding, it is not quite the same picture we can witness today when we look at european social and cultural reality.
The best tool to change such a situation is education, but for this we need to invest time and effort in building the bridges while kids are still in school.
A fascinating talk of James Fallon, a neurologist with an unusual story. His talk brings quite a lot of interesting questions to think about, and I would really advise it to all, plus, it might fit well as a basis for some high-school class.
Teachers, have you talked about the #occupyTogether in your class? If so, what have you done? Have you raised a conversation? How did the kids reacted? If not, why did you choose to not speak about it?
A film, by Roko Belic, one of the great ones. The first thought that came to my mind while watching this trailer, is why don’t we teach these kind of things at school ? Why do we not teach “Happyness” as a topic? I mean, there is a lot to think about on this issue, as it turns out this one thing in which you will invest quite a lot of time in during your whole life.
We teach how to deal with money, but we do not teach kids how to deal with emotions. Then, later some grownups kids have to learn psychology and psychoanalyze, to take care of the other kids that cannot deal with their emotions anymore…
