XplanaZine

People my age generally remember where they were when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. In my case, we were in the middle of our family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. On July 20, 1969, we had stopped in Casper, Wyoming to spend the night. My parents had one room and my two brothers and I shared another. That night, around 9:00 PM, we stared in amazement at the black and white TV as Armstrong took those famous steps.

I remember where I was for his walk, and I also remember vividly my brief encounter with the Moon the following year. That next spring, a traveling exhibit of Moon rocks came to our city and was on display for all to see. My mother took me and we waited for several hours before we finally had our turn at the glass case that held the rocks. I still remember my initial reaction — a bit of disappointment. I don’t know exactly what I had been expecting — perhaps something with an exotic look or that made strange noises. But all I saw in that glass case were some dull stones that looked like something I might find in the woods behind my grandmother’s house.

In spite of that momentary disappointment, I, like everyone else, was caught up in the romance of space as a boy and as a young man. I grew up hearing and dreaming about the stars. I read Asimov and Heinlein and thought that, one day, I might get my chance.

That’s probably why I was so interested when SpaceShipOne captured the X Prize eighteen months ago. It heralded a new era in space travel. We were looking at a day when tourists could actually travel into space.

Since then, there has indeed been much talk about Space 2.0. Companies such as Virginia-based Space Adventures and Virgin Galactic are already building private spaceports and planning to launch well-heeled customers into space within the next few years. In many ways, the dreams and fiction of my youth are coming to pass right before my eyes. It is indeed an exciting time.

As I think about these achievements, however, I wonder about other races we might win if we could only capture people’s imaginations the way space travel has. In addition to Space 2.0, or Web 2.0, is it possible to have Education 2.0? Is it possible to transform the inner space of learning and knowledge evolution in the world?

It is certainly possible, but for such a thing to happen, the idea will have to capture the world’s imagination. The idea will need to transcend the dull realities of Moon rocks and conjure in people’s minds the exotic excitement and wonder of a bright future’s promise. It will need to have tangible, if unreal, taste and form.

We get a bit of that excitement in the $100 laptop program but, for the most part, Education 2.0 is still at the stage of squabble and assessment, NCLB and digital divide. In other words, we see the gap but we have yet to pioneer a way across it.

There is a bridge that can be built with heart, will, and unity. Those of us working on the problem have heart — there is no doubt about it. But we don’t have the necessary unity and we lack the common vision that can inspire billions. We have some dusty old rocks but no clear dream to sell along with them.

At least not yet.

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