In a traditional school, intellectual “enrichment” is provided by a single speaker about once a year - never, if you’re in a rural school. As we look at the tools available to us today, why do we still use this classical model? Instead of getting a mediocre speaker into the class once a year, why not connect with a great mind once week? The technologies of video conferencing makes this easy, and many great minds are more than glad to interact with our nation’s youth. By spending just an hour of time every week, we could easily set it up. Speakers could include politicians, bloggers, and scientists - all tied in to the current subject being studied. When you study the Supreme Court, why not get someone who works there to talk to your class? It is far more fun and engaging to hear about the system from a living, working person than from an old, outdated textbook. Use the technologies available to us, and stimulate the conversation.
Of course, the idea also popped into my head of creating a simple web application which does this for you. Teachers can login and request an expert on say, politics. Then, politicians can login and say times they are available. The system would match the two together and provide the technology needed for interaction. Anyone care for a summer project?
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