WebEx: Ideas in Motion

WebEx Forum: Using the Power of Internet and Global Collaboration

Fred Mednick, Founder of Teachers Without Borders, will offer a pragmatic forum entitled, One Idea, 165 Countries on Monday, September 14th. He’ll describe how his organization is using the Internet and tools like WebEx to extend their reach to embrace the world.

He’ll talk about how Teachers Without Borders reaches out to more affiliates, more often, with more information thanks to the Internet. And how the team has overcome issues related to organizational coordination, communication, planning and follow-up.

Plus, he’ll include a look at how the Internet has increased the speed of feedback – allowing his non-profit organization to adapt to the changing needs of different geographies and cultures.

Register Now!

And you can post pre-event questions on our event page on Facebook. Fred will have time to review what’s posted and either address the questions during this talk or after the event on Facebook.

Event Details: One hour WebEx on Monday, September 14, 2009; 10:00 AM PDT | 1:00 PM EDT

WebEx Forum: Join Fred Mednick to choose an education Idea winner!

Join us at an Ideas in Motion Forum where we'll be showcasing three ideas from PasstheBall.com. You can register now to attend.

The session will be hosted by Fred Mednick, founder of Teachers Without Borders. The goal of the session is to have a discussion that can help these ideas get better and then vote for a winner. The winner will get a free year of WebEx to help develop their idea and bring it to life!

The ideas we'll be discussing:

The Link Letter
One way to pass the ball would be to help our students begin to send a kind of “link letter”. That’s what I call a short written message from one student to another student who is not in his geographical area. The message would express hope, humor, or encouragement. It could include an idea or custom or animal or flower that is unique to the writer’s area...<see idea>

Students Rate their Teachers
Students should be allowed to evaluate their teachers. Then taking the evaluations into consideration, the school board should then have unannounced evaluations for those teachers. This allows for the school board to evaluate a teacher in his or her daily environment...<see idea>

Speech Therapy & Sign Language for Special Needs Children Abroad
Often special needs children are last in line to receive any education or assistance in developing countries. Using WebEx you can give speech therapy or any face to face therapy remotely and even teach their countries sign language as well. We can reach more children in need <see idea>

Have an idea for PasstheBall.com? Come over and post it! You might win a free year of WebEx!

Register Now!

Event Details: One hour WebEx on Friday, August 28, 2009  10:00 AM PDT | 1:00 PM EDT

Webinar: Teachers are the "tipping point" for bridging great ideas

Let's face it, we all are teachers. Whether we are teaching our children or a co-worker or our neighbor, the act of sharing information with someone else is a human experience we all share.

But here's the question, are you teaching as well as you could be?

Come listen to Fred Mednick, a former school principal and the founder of the non-profit Teachers Without Borders, as he hosts a WebEx about his experiences. 

Learn how global teaching communities, by sharing ideas, unlock their own native intelligence and that of the children they teach every day. Teaching heroes from West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia show that, if connected to information and to each other, they can act as tipping points to closing the educational divide.

This event is presented as part of our PasstheBall.com series aimed at helping everyone understand the value of sharing ideas to make them better.  If you missed Fred's last presentation, you can hear the WebEx here or download the slides.

Register today!

Details:
WebEx featuring Fred Mednick
Date: Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
10AM PDT   I   1PM EDT   I   5PM GMT (or UTC)

Fred Mednick Live! New WebEx Event Monday, June 22 - Register Now!

Fred Mednick, the founder of Teachers Without Borders, is back to talk to us about how teachers are having an impact on more than education.

In his first WebEx, Fred told the story of how Teachers Without Borders got started and the incredible impact the organization has had on communities around the world.  It now operates in more than 160 countries and his vision empowers millions of teachers to deliver hope of a positive, sustainable future.

During this WebEx, you'll hear stories about actual teachers who are changing the world - one person at a time. This presentation is part of our "Ideas in Motion" series aimed at helping people understand the power of sharing ideas (you can read more about it here).

Register today!

Details:
WebEx featuring Fred Mednick
Monday, June 22, 2009, 10:00 AM PDT | 1:00 PM EDT  (UTC-7 hours)

If you missed it: Fred Mednick June 4th webcast now available...

If you heard the buzz but missed the presentation last week with Fred Mednick, founder of Teachers Without Borders, it's not too late. We recorded the WebEx and have it available for rebroadcast here. If you haven't joined our TWB Cause page on Facebook, now's your chance - it's a simple way of showing support.

Teachers Without Borders - A Founder's Story

It was an awesome talk about how he took his idea - that he shared with a friend half a world away - and together these men built something amazing. From worrying about what to do shortly after 9/11 to bringing teachers together from around the world, you'll hear Fred talk about inspiration, passion and those "evenly distributed minds" that are just waiting to be taught new things.

Hear the Rebroadcast; Grab the Slides

Click here to hear the broadcast and if you have questions for Fred, we're still listening on our Facebook page. If you post on our wall there, we'll do our best to get you answers.

If you just want the slides, they are posted here.

Share Your Point of View

Whether you attended the live event or listened to the rebroadcast, we are interested in knowing what you thought about Fred's presentation. We are inviting him back later this month (watch this space for more details) and we can include your questions and feedback in his next session. So comment here or come over to Facebook and share your ideas with us.

Meet us at the Sony Center in Berlin on Wednesday!

We are bringing the Ball Booth to you at the Sony Center in Berlin this Wednesday.

We'll be there to record your ideas for PasstheBall.com - so bring your ideas and bring your friends. If you are feeling shy, you don't have to record your idea, you can do it online at the website.

We'll post the videos to the web and we are going to ask people to rate your idea and add comments to help make it better. All you have to do is show up!

Be sure the spread the word - all these ideas help generate donations for Teachers Without Borders - it's a good thing.

If you go, come back here and post some photos in our comments section. All of us in California want to see how the event is going!

Fred Mednick Live! Thursday, June 4th! Register Now!

If it looks like we are excited, its because we are! Fred Mednick, the founder of Teachers Without Borders, will be talking about how he shared his idea and made it better as it grew into one incredible organization.

In a moving presentation, you'll hear the story of how Teachers Without Borders got started and the incredible impact the organization has had on communities around the world.  It now operates in more than 160 countries and his vision empowers millions of teachers to deliver hope of a positive, sustainable future

Register today to tap into the insight and inspiration of his pioneering spirit.

Details:
WebEx Seminar featuring Fred Mednick
Thursday, June 4th at 9AM PDT | 12PM EDT (UTC-7 hours)

Passing the Ball - it takes a (global) village...

Don't worry, I appreciate the irony of writing in English while trying to reach out to folks in Germany and France. But I have to start somewhere!

We've had an amazing "first week" with PasstheBall.com in the United States. In face, we have attracted ideas from Russia, Malaysia and Egypt! But we want to reach out to a few more languages - we are starting with German and French (hopefully with more to come).

We are kicking off these sites this week and we'd like to have everyone reach out to folks who read/write German or French and invite them to Pass the Ball! Here are the links to the sites:

German: passtheball.de
French: passtheball.fr

Remember, the more people we get to participate, the more donations are triggered for Teachers Without Borders. And you don't have to post an idea - you can come in, register and comment, join a team, rate ideas - or just share ideas with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or whereever you share good news.

Thank you everyone. And if you are in the UK, don't forget the big event on Wednesday. We hope to see you there!

Meet us at Victoria Station, London on Weds, May 27th

Look for the huge WebEx Ball Booth on the central concourse. To kick off Pass the Ball UK, we are going just a little bit nuts!

We'll have a booth where you can video tape your ideas that we will be sharing with everyone as part of our "Pass the Ball" efforts. When you share, you'll trigger a donation to Teachers Without Borders and you'll have the opportunity to win a year of free WebEx!

We realize some people are camera shy - you don't have to record an idea. But you can still come see us - in fact bring a friend or two. We are giving away fun promotional items and there should be lots of excitement.

And to make it fun, when you go, be sure to come back here and comment on this story with links to your photos. Some of us are stuck in California working so we'll want to see the event through your eyes!

In the meantime, you don't have to wait for the big event. You can start posting your ideas on the UK, French or German sites right now! (And yep, the US site too!). If you don't have an idea, then see what's there and rate, comment or join an Idea Team.

Don't forget, Weds at Victoria Station, Main Concourse - come start the ball rolling!

Anatomy of an idea: "Hungry for Change"

I love going to PasstheBall.com every morning and checking out the new ideas. While clicking around, one caught my eye - it connected with a post on the WebEx Facebook fan page - it was an idea called "Hungry for Change."

I clicked into the idea and read it: 

"...every time you use your participating bank card, your purchase amount is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and your spare change is donated to the cause of your choice."

Wow - that sounded awesome. It gave a link to a video on YouTube which explained even more. And I realized, what's happening here is exactly what we want PasstheBall.com to do. Be a place for people to share great ideas and get help - from everyone else out there - to make them grow. Clearly Jamie Pullman at Hungry for Change has been working on his idea for awhile - but he hasn't done it alone!

As people join your team and as you build momentum for your idea, we'll host a WebEx Forum to facilitate discussion among your team members. If there's an expert you'd like to weigh in, let us know because we'll even see if we can make that happen.

So it's up to you. Jump in, post your idea or support the ideas already percolating on the site. And remember, every time you do, you are triggering a donation to Teachers Without Borders.