Google Image: http://linkyy.com/omF.

Ornery. I will begin by being a bit ornery. I do not think that our world is “flat.” It may be flattening, but it will be a very long time before it is pancaked. I doubt that it will ever be truly flat, and I am not so sure that a flat world would be an unmitigated good. I do not like the metaphor because I think that it is misleading. Setting metaphor to one side, to say that the world is “flat” is actually very appealing, perhaps even rhetorically compelling. However, to correctly describe the inspiration and to identify the goals of education in the digital age, we should turn the rhetoric of “flat” down a notch, or even abandon it altogether.

Thomas Friedman (2005) describes how technology has “flattened” the world. He correctly suggests that technology has opened up new possibilities for wider participation in commerce, sharing intellectual capital, and creating new mechanisms of cross and transcultural exchange that were previously impossible. He more than hints at the challenge and promise of such flattening outside commerce. While technology has caused tectonic shifts in influence and power, it is premature to describe the world as flat, especially in such a fundamental field as education.

Using Skype to connect classrooms internationally is genius (Roscorla, 2010). The Read Across America initiative is similarly inspired (Roscorla, 2014). Thinking back to 8th grade French I, Skype would have helped me to learn the language in a more intuitive way, paradigms be darned! Coming from small town Virginia, Read Across America would have helped me to appreciate the complexity of “American” culture(s) as a young reader. Julie Lindsay’s webpage describes, “Flat Connections,” as an initiative that seeks to “join[...] learners with the purpose of ‘learning while doing’ in a global context,” by “providing resources, skills, strategies and access to learning about the world, with the world.” Geography would have been much more relevant in middle school had we actually done something practical, instead of memorizing country names and GDP’s. “Connected Classrooms” provides virtual field trips that, “bring the world into your classroom with Google+.” How different would my students today think of Islam apart from the nightly news? But, would any of these “flatten”our worlds? No. These would make them more resemble a mountain of challenge and possibility, more of a hopeful dream than a walk across a baseball diamond.

Is the world flat? No. Will it ever be flat? I hope the heck not! The risk run by flattening is just too great because it threatens to homogenize language, culture, and religion while offering a bland, facile, transparent sense of mutual understanding.

Touching upon the other issue: have I tried to foster students’ respectful and ethical minds? Well, I teach Christian Morality and Comparative Religion. But, this is no guarantee that I meet Gardner’s challenge. In fact, I have known teachers so blinded by partisan commitments and ideology that authentic instruction and learning in these subjects was all but impossible. The world may not be as one wants it, but at least we need to show our students an accurate picture. Questioned, no, interrogated by one such teacher about my own pedagogical practice, I replied that I teach students how to do theology, not how to memorize a catechism.

Google Image:
http://linkyy.com/omG

Righteous indignation aside, given the overwhelming amount of available resources, it is not very difficult to promote collaboration in a ways that foster the respectful and ethical minds. For example, students in my Comparative Religion class are required to prepare “nonlinear, multi-media infused” presentations for their final project. They are given a choice of subjects to research, e.g., human origins and ends; cosmology; ethics; religious architecture and arts; liturgical expression. After choosing a topic, they study it from Western (transcendental, objective) and Eastern (immanent, subjective) perspectives. The goal is more than descriptive, it requires that students approach the topic from a critical perspective. Two of the most memorable projects included what we would today call “line dances” from traditional cultures, and ethnic food prepared in the classroom. Show us the curry, or feed us the curry --- which would you prefer?

The world is not flat. If it were, I would be able to get my curry easily and without bother. Having to seek it makes it much more tasty.

Sources Consulted

Online Texts

Friedman, T. (2005, April 3). It’s a flat world, afterall. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://linkyy.com/omA.

Roscorla, T. (2010, March 17). Skype connects classrooms around the world. Center for Digital Education. Retrieved from http://linkyy.com/omB.

Roscorla, T. (2014, February 18). Elementary school classes plan to read across America with Google Hangouts. Center for Digital Education. Retrieved from http://linkyy.com/omC.

Websites

Flat Connections: http://linkyy.com/omE.

Google Connected Classrooms: http://linkyy.com/omD.