Blog: Richard Hackathorn: Did You Know ... Shift Happens?

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Did You Know ... Shift Happens?

I was watching the Federal Consortium on Virtual Worlds Friday when they showed a short video during a break. It was called Shift Happens and had a profound message about educating the next generation. I searched YouTube, found it, and circulated the link to several colleagues. One colleague (my son Eric) replied that it was actually another YouTube video. Two identical videos? Hmmmm So, I investigated.

There are actually more than 20 variations. Here are some better ones:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RXNWwGUsBU
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUsYFCfmNMo
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqfunyCeU5g

They all started in August of 2006 by Karl Fisch with a PowerPoint presentation to a group of teachers. The original title was Did You Know. Fisch's thoughts, along with his original materials, are available at...
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

Scott McLeored remixed the Fisch material with better fonts, rewording, “upbeat” soundtrack, and YouTubed it! For details from McLeod, see...
http://scottmcleod.typepad.com/dangerouslyirrelevant/2007/01/gone_fischin.html

That was in January. It went viral! And, it has spawned many subsequent variations. The first link above has more than 2.4 million views!

The bottom line: This is a thought provoking video that is well worth 5 minutes of your time. In Fisch’s words, “I remixed content from David Warlick, Thomas Friedman, Ian Jukes, Ray Kurzweil and others.” In a delight way, I must say. It challenges many old notions of world order and technology. It is especially pertinent for educators of today’s youth. The world that these youth will experienced will be quite different than what we have experienced.

Oh, about Karl Fisch... He is a teacher at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, CO, just a few miles from where I live in Boulder. Global thoughts in a small world!

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