The Benefits of Virtual Travel
By: John Bittleston

The most moving religious service I ever attended took place in a Singapore theatre. An aircraft of a local airline had crashed, and 107 people, mostly from Singapore and of many different nationalities, died in the accident. It was a black day for our small community of four and a half million on this tiny island near the equator. All of us knew, or knew of, someone who had died. Every family was touched by the tragedy.
    
Each religious group had its own service, but we also had a collective service in the country’s biggest theatre. Sixteen religions were represented on the stage, each taking turn to say a prayer or sing a chant to honour the memory of those we had lost. Also attending were those of no religious belief, for they, too, have a faith. The names of the dead were read out, and we had a silence to think about them and those they had left behind. During that meditation, you could have heard a pin drop.
   
It took me a quarter of an hour to reach the theatre by taxi from my home but almost 50 years of my life to conclude that I was witnessing the most genuine act of communion I would ever see. There was no incense to waft our prayers to Heaven, no wafer host to represent our uniting with a mystical God, no sermon to warn us of the perils of our way of life, no promise of paradise if we turned aside from sin. We didn’t hold hands, embrace, or make commitments for the future. We simply joined in a sense of love that crossed the boundaries of race, religion, color, wealth, intelligence, power, skills, and standards.
   
For one hour, all of us there became one person.
   
My vow from that remarkable service was to devote time to helping people travel across the boundaries that had melted away for me, to encourage the young to explore the thrill of different cultures, to help to make the global village a reality, even for those who could not travel. A career of working in and with the media had taught me about the power of the pen and the picture. The demands of wealth creation had taught me that, as with all power, heavy responsibilities lie on those who use the tools of persuasion and education.
   
I deduced that our fractious world was not going to be mended from monasteries and convents but from cinema seats, television programs, computer screens, and mobile phones. Faith was not lost for walking with the salesman, but rather strengthened by discovering the innate good that lies at the heart of every human soul. From that day on, I resolved to write for children.
   
The explosion of the Internet and our access to knowledge beyond anything we could have imagined 20 years ago enabled the dream of cultural understanding to become a reality. Knowledge is no longer the prime determinant of control. What decides the value of knowledge is the wisdom with which it is used. Information without understanding is useless.
   
So, where are the classes taking us behind the analyses of history? Where are we learning that one man’s faith is another man’s prejudice? Are we learning wisdom in our schools or in our homes?
   
We are learning from the news of extremist atrocities, from the exposure of mindless corruption that is not even materially rewarding. We are learning from the planet itself grumbling at our excessive demands on it. We are learning from the amazing sacrifices of those who devote their time to others regardless of reward, without thought of praise, thanks or compensation.
   
Everything happens for a purpose, even accidents. Understanding that purpose is surely the key to living harmoniously. That is why the Internet can bring such enormous benefits to the young. Children should play, shout, laugh, squabble, and cry. Above all, they should feel. Seeing the ghettoes of poor cities, watching the agony of those living on land laid waste to desert, entering the seedy living quarters of the old and lonely can be an inspiration to them for their role in putting one piece of the jigsaw in place.
   
Most of the young have neither money nor time to travel far. Even when they do, they see a manicured tourist view. Internet travel takes us further than that. It whets the appetite of a child to explore the beauty and grime of our fascinating world. It shows the honest for their kindness and exposes the scoundrel. It encourages the young to embrace the challenge of life, not to abandon the problems of an overcrowded earth.
   
Sermons on these issues don’t work. The young grow beyond believing everything they are told very early in life. They form their own standards, hold their own opinions, and create their own lives from very early. There’s no good regretting the loss of those years of innocence; it has happened. We must now positively develop the earlier age of reason. That is done by good story-telling, making thinking fun, and letting each life be as fulfilled for others as it can be.
   
The Good Samaritan helped one man…in the story. He helped untold millions as the story was told and retold round the world. Such is the power of a story, and such can be the achievement of virtual travel tomorrow.

John Bittleston is the executive chairman of Wiglington and Wenks Worldwide and founder mentor of Terrific Mentors, www.WiglingtonAndWenks.com.


Sidebar
What Are the Visible Signs of Global Literacy on Your Campus?
By Sandy Doss

Private and public campuses across the country are challenged to define our understanding, our practice, and instructional performance fostering a “global perspective.” How do we move from “teaching global” to “being global” and what does this require at an administrative level, amongst our faculty, and within our learning environments? Case studies indicate that without a proven strategic plan and mission for global education, globalization of campus curriculum, faculty training, and experiential student learning is rendered to sporadic and disconnected vignettes of global inquiry.   Whether your institution is in the process of building the foundations and architecture for global learning, or deeply entrenched in the daunting task of planning to further critical global linkages, we are not immune from this discussion and key question: “What are the visible signs of global literacy on your campus?”
 
In order to answer such a question, the systemic approach to infuse a whole global mindset throughout your school seeks to provide students with skills, attitudes, and knowledge necessary to deal with an increasingly interdependent world. Beyond learning about multicultural and international issues, students can expand their lens of the world and foster those attitudes, dispositions, and thinking skills that are critical in understanding the myriad facets involved in global issues. They learn skills and perspectives that help them become lifelong learners – they become active participants in our global community, while also promoting an appreciation of cultural diversity and global responsibility.
 
As stated by Will Richardson of Powerful Learning Practice, “We can’t look at learning in the same way – kids are not waiting for someone to present information – but instead make sense of information as it is continuously coming in. In a world society, members become learner, teacher, and participant of the global learning community.” So, where do we begin? The simple adage is “let’s not recreate the wheel,” and this is true in our efforts to guide students in their attainment of global literacy. The resources and proven models for exemplary practice exist and are successfully implemented in diverse K-12 and Higher Education campuses. The National Association of Independent Schools offers excellent resources in a campus-wide global approach. The Global Competence Matrix offers an exceptional model created as part of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ EdSteps Project, in partnership with the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning.

Similar matrixes describing criteria for Global competence within academic disciplines provide insight and support for specific curricular applications. In its program My Wonderful World, National Geographic offers resources and a framework for helping students realize the power of global knowledge. Geography is the study of the world and all that is in it: its peoples, its places, its environments, and all the connections among them. Geographic inquiry asks you to see the world and all that is in it in spatial terms. Comparable to several of related research methods, it also asks you to explore, analyze, and responsibly act upon the information and data that you uncover. A great resource for international faculty development in spatial and environmental studies for global inquiry is GISetc. Likewise, the urgency for the attainment of global literacy is highlighted in the National Science Teachers Association paper on International Science Education, as it relates, “School leadership recognizes it is crucial for science educators to establish an environment that encourages international and cultural awareness, understanding, openness, and supporting science educators who wish to participate in international collaborations.” Even though each of the academic disciplines promote a global ethic through the content, skills, and processes specific to their knowledge base, cross discipline connections naturally enrich the topics and issues covered.

In addition to the rich content that each academic area of study offers, it is critically important not only to foster “what” is addressed but “how” it is shared. Global awareness is made even more meaningful when students are able to recognize and understand their own connections within global issues and cultures.  Helping students to understand these connections serves to intensify the common bonds and unity that is redolent in our world. Strategies abound in how these connections can be made ranging from a literature-rich approach to electronic communications to physical immersion in field-based international programs. As diverse as cultures are, so, too, are the means to awaken awareness in students.

Basic to recognizing and assessing the visible signs of global literacy on your campus is exploring the premise why global literacy is so essential in preparing an educated and responsible citizenry for the future. As our students are facing a world that continues to change, and as issues emerge that cannot be solved in isolation, it is imperative that the well-being of the planet and its people is contingent on how our students transform the knowledge, skills, and passion that they have for the betterment of our interconnected world.

Sandy Doss is vice president of Holbrook Travel, www.holbrooktravel.com.