Live from South Africa:
Teachers – the
catalyst for change.
Today’s Speaker:
Dr. Fred Mednick, Founder, Teachers Without Borders
Moderator:
Debbie Bain, Marketing Manager, Cisco WebEx
Presentation_ID © 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 1

Dr. Fred Mednick
Founder, Teachers Without Borders
Presentation_ID © 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 2

Greetings from South Africa!
From an Idea to a Grassroots Movement
• Celebrate 7 years of science-math teaching –
local, grassroots, and focused on achievement
• Observe 900 teachers educate each other
• Walk the land of a potential Teacher Leadership Center
• Witness the power of human agency and dignity
But this is the exception, rather than the rule

New Voices About Old Ideas

A 1.0 to 2.0 Sensibility
Passive > Active
Supply > Demand
Solutions > Capacity
Top-down > Bottom-up
Download > Upload
Consumers > Producers
One-to-all > Many to Many
Technology as end > Social capital
News as authority > Crowd as source
9 years ago, we saw the
implications for education

59 Million Stories
Fresh, diverse ideas … … are ideas worth
sharing

New Currencies
 Exchange and barter
 Frequent flyer miles
 Sweat and labor
 Reciprocity and human agency and trust
 Human capital – social learning
The best currency of all – teachers

So, What’s The Method?
High-tech; high-touch; high-teach
Technology alone is not the answer, alone
Well-intentioned people are not the answer, alone
The best information in the world is not the answer, alone

Connect, Create, and Collaborate
An ounce of dignity is worth a
pound of force

Global Social Learning for Teachers
From narcissistic to altruistic
networks

It’s About Being Counted
…and counting the difference you can make
Technology transfer can start anywhere;
evidence that brains are equally distributed

It’s About Being Accountable
TWB Shall Lead Non-Profit Transparency
TODAY’S REPORT (June 22, 2009)
16,370 more graduates of the Certificate of Teaching Mastery
CERTIFICATE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
7,110 Men | 74% online
9,260 Women | 83% online
Community metrics: achievement, attendance, behavior
Community Data Collection Methods
Feedback by Course (stars and comments)
Overall Satisfaction: 4.7/5
Information Verified | Not Verified
Full Report
Let the public decide; let the people determine the impact

TWB Members with a 2.0 Sensibility
 Convened conferences of teachers from regions in conflict
 Created a five-course Certificate of Teaching Mastery program
 Established schools in displaced persons’ camps
 Conducted HIV-AIDS workshops for teachers
 Opened Community Teaching and Learning Centers in prisons
 Invented a program for teachers to reach U.N. goals
 Developed 50+ free courses, regional networks, and action groups
 Broadcast a Voice of Teachers radio show reaching 5,000,000 p/week
 Trained earthquake science to teachers in order that they may save lives

Technology + People + Information
Earthquake in China (May 12, 2008)

From Tragedy to Earthquake Science
Safety – Science – Inquiry = New Ideas

Sakubona from South Africa!
I see you; followed by… I am seen
“When you shake another’s hand…that is the time
you truly feel your own.”
- Martin Buber