TED’s tag line is Ideas worth spreading. The Open Mike Future Salon’s tag line is Ideas worth further exploring. The format is the following: You present your idea for 5 minutes. It’s OK if your idea isn’t fully formed yet, present your current state. The next 5 minutes the audience asked questions or gives comments that may move your idea forward. If the conversation is really active, we add another 5 minutes to that exploration. You may walk away from the Future Salon with a handfull of new ideas or venues to explore. This is why I can’t wait to share my idea of letting our children solve real world problems with you:
Imagine a world where every classroom in every school is solving real-world problems and sharing their solutions. Let’s apply Google’s “20% time” to schools! Each Friday, students focus on solving a practical problem they choose. Children create a budget, build a team, publicly brainstorm solutions, set milestones, track their progress Wikipedia-style and present their solution to the whole school at the end of the year. Award bonus points to teams who engage contributors beyond the classroom. Teaching students to initiate, collaborate, and adapt will prepare them to thrive in our ever-changing world.
Can’t wait to hear your comments and suggestions to these ideas. There will be 5 minute sessions around Empowering Women through Technology; World Peace; From Great Potential to Not-So-Great Results; … Please share your idea too that you are convinced will influence our lives in the future. After all this Thursday is the 1st of March Future Day. Fill out this form or come and sign up on the white board that evening. We meet 6pm at SAP Labs in Palo Alto 3410 Hillview Avenue. More details on the Future Salon web page. See you all there.