[staff] Virtual Education: Access and Impact
Since joining GK in September of this year, I have had the wonderful opportunity to dedicate a majority of my time to a truly unique program. The D.I.D.I. Initiative, is one of the first opportunities that the work of Global Kids is able to reach so many of the world's young people, so that youth are not only building teams across state lines and borders, but committing to each other and working towards a common endeavor over a prolonged period of time.
What makes this Initiative so unique, is its breadth. Its ability to reach youth that would otherwise not have such an opportunity possible. The youth who cannot wait for the last bell to ring, but won’t leave after a two hour workshop on our island. This is what Global Kids is about. An opportunity for youth from around the world to learn about themselves and develop their skills, through their exposure to diverse prospectives and issues.
These young people learn within a global community of learners. This is how they make sense of themselves, of the world around them, and learn the skills necessary to approach any phenomenon that lies ahead.
Within this medium, youth are thinking about the "universality" of their own issue: That one person's issue is also the issue of another young person across the country, across the world. And they not only utilize the tools of this immersive environment to find common ground, but to harness their commonality towards change.
This is the power of virtual learning.
It is experiential learning in an embodied space.
It is a unique place where youth from around the world can log in at a specific time and experience their growth together, again and again.
But this education, like any education, is only as powerful as its reach, its impact.
And its reach is still sadly limited to the populations of the world that have access: access to education, access to technology, access to opportunity.
And so this month's staff reflection, is as much a resolution as it is a call to action: to work together to bring GK's work, as well as the work of others, to young people who don't yet have access.
We have the technology, now lets run with it.
