Global Education Conference - Travel as and Alternative Form of Education

On Thursday I attended a second global education conference called, Travel as an Alternative Form of Education - Life Learning on the Road. It was presented by Lainie Liberti and her 14 year old son, Miro. They left America 5 years ago. Lainie's intent was to travel for one year and return, but one year has turned into five and is now their adopted lifestyle. They have been in Central and South America traveling and learning on the road for about five years. The presentation was given from Peru, where they are stationed now. I was particularly interested in this conference because I have a passion for travel as well. I am a firm believer that one can learn more by traveling than any other form of education. Many of the things that I have come to understand about the world as a whole have come from my many travels.

Community was a huge focus of their presentation. Though Lainie has no formal teaching experience and is not qualified as a formal educator, she had a lot of amazing things to share. She recognized and explained the difference between learning and teaching. She also viewed herself as a facilitator in a learning community. 21st century skills (as referred to in the Common Core) seem to lead to the teacher as a facilitator more than an instructor. Lainie was a firm believer that learning happens through personal goals and development. In fact, I took a screen shot of this part of their presentation because I thought it best summarized their work and beliefs.

Lainie and Miro learn through their travel experiences and have an incredible perspective of the world and its people.

The online platform for learning has been incredible for me. It was amazing to be able to connect with educators from around the globe. This is something very powerful that has the capability of transforming the whole education experience.