Tom Friedman's "Hot, Flat, and Crowded"

[Skip Zilla]

Thomas L. Friedman's soon to be published Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America tells the forward-looking, environment/energy story that has already begun to forever change the lives of Americans and others around the world. Here's what Mr. Friedman himself had to say about the book in a Book TV video which aired recently on C-SPAN2. (When the link's web page opens, just click on the "Watch" button to start the video.)

I wonder when our educational perspectives and programs will adjust to face the new reality so that school kids and their teachers will learn how to intelligently adapt and potentially flourish in the challenging new world?

[Skip Zilla]

Jeffrey Sachs has written a book which addresses the challenges of Tom Friedman's "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" (future) world.

[Janet Navarro]

Skip and all,

I was fascinated to see that you mentioned Friedmans's upcoming book. I am teaching an 099 reading course as part of my faculty teaching load this fall. It's a course designed to support new college students who have minimally effective reading skills in learning how to read with, as I will say to them, engagement, enjoyment and endurance. I selected Friedman's new book as our class text -- one we will work on reading together, practice our reading skills in, and think together about. If a conversation takes off around these ideas, I would like to hook them into this discussion group so they can read what others say, and write some things themselves. Modeling this part of my teaching/facilitating after Connie's ground breaking work with the ning network in her own classroom, I think it has amazing potential for students to be engaged in doing the kinds of things the discussion might well be about.

janet

[Skip Zilla]

Your idea of bringing your students to FL, as a way to open up their discussions of the book, is a good one, Janet. Also, I'm encouraged to hear that you're using a ning network to engage them personally and collaboratively in their course work. Another good idea.