Epilogue

To describe the final evening would be an impossibility. Suffice it to say that my thoughts, prior to the final event were, "how do things get any better than this?"

After being picked up from our hotels, we were shuttled to another location. Not knowing the exact destination, other than what was on the itinerary (with no explanation), disembarking we were greeted with loud drums & a dancing animal (video is below). The whole thing was surreal!

This was our final evening together - teachers from 60 nations gathered in a place reserved for diplomats. It is open to the public, which you will see in some of the photos attached, but the Jumbo Floating Restaurant is a step into the sublime. It is what one pictures when they think of a trip to "the orient." The architecture, the ornateness - mosaics & dragons lining each entry.

Entering the main hall where we gathered were aligned on each side with booths. They were to provide us, the foreigners, with some of the hospitality that we imagine China to be. There were booths that wrote each person's name in the Chinese characters, drew characactures, painted names on the back side of fans and told fortunes! We all drew up in a line and patiently waited our turn.

Dinner was another matter altogether. Have you ever eaten a 13 course meal? I can attest to the fact that I have never experienced such opulence! You will see the menu attached, too.

With food and new friends we met during the days we were together, the evening was a wonderful mosaic of nationalities finding commonalities. Our first, we were human beings! Our second, we were all teachers who loved using technology to reach students; third, we LOVED to eat; fourth, we spoke a common language; fifth, we found our nations of origin. I was sitting next to 2 men from Poland...my grandmother was born in the U.S. to Polish immigrants.

I was recently asked about my "philosophy of teaching." My reply is as follows:

Online learning can't help but impact education in the U.S. It is impacting institutions of learning by providing flexibility for instructors and students alike...On a small scale, online learning has begun to connect students and teachers nationally and internationally without ever leaving their classrooms. On a global scale, it has the potential to break down social prejudices and pre-conceived ideas about people and cultures. If our students get that, they have crossed the precipice of something that has taken our country generations to accomplish in this nation.

I experience this first-hand and am convinced we are in the throws of a technological revolution in education!