Education forms the basis of a consistent pattern of success that leads to great things from even the smallest of players. Like the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the jungles of Brazil that cause typhoons off the Japanese coast, the connections are not always obvious at the moment of creation. An interest in math today may lead to the next great paleontologist tomorrow. A love of history may result in leaps of medicine and the cure for cancer.
Looking forward, the path is not always clear. This is why it is important to instill a desire in lifelong learners to cultivate a yearning for knowledge in ways that are new and unexpected. Some may call this the slippery slope when it challenges our beliefs in the status quo.
Take global warming, for example.
Starting in the mid-1980s, lobbyists made concerted efforts to deny that climate change was occurring. This resulted in extreme neglect by politicians and industrialists who only saw negative consequences if forced to admit that the slippery slope might, in any way, be connected to human activities from which they derive their livelihood. Such thinking, however, denies the fact that with great challenges, come great opportunities. We must look at the environment around us, establish connections to those who might see things differently, and have the courage of conviction to at least try.
This is why connections are so powerful. They reach far beyond that which is commonly accepted or blindly followed, far beyond neglect or ignorance, to create environments of positive change at a nexus of discovery.
In this conference, we want to focus on how immersive environments have extended the reach of educators to imagine a world without boundaries. To reach out beyond self-imposed constraints and open the doors to new ways of thinking, imagining, expression, and building.
We invite you to bring your best ideas. To reach out and connect with people, not because they are the same, but because they are different. To play in the maze of knowledge that everyone brings to the sandbox which is VWBPE.
Connect with us.