Interactive Breakout Session ENG70
Truth in the News, Truth in Education
Date Friday, Dec 8 Time – RoomKöpenick 1,3
Truth is the always unstable result of accepting multiple perspectives. Where does truth come from for both news and education? Do we recognise it when we see it? Can it be managed without being manipulated? The concentration of media corporations controlling the news means that we are mostly exposed to only one or two narrow views of reality. How we handle information from a diversity of sources, requires developing skills of critical thinking. What is the role of the education sector here? And what avenues opened by technologies show promise for future success? Do we face dangers that technology may serve the contrary purpose, narrowing perspectives and discouraging critical thinking? Speakers in this session aim to inspire, provoke and engage you in conversation.
Peter Isackson
Managing Director, Fair Observer, USA
Peter Isackson has worked in France for over 30 years as a consultant, trainer, coach and trainer of trainers. A prolific author, producer and publisher of a wide range of multimedia and e-learning products, he has acquired a reputation as a pioneer in the use of new technology in training, collaborating with multiple publishers in Europe and the US. He has authored programs on sales techniques, foreign languages, intercultural skills, team management and sustainable development.
He is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of SkillScaper, proposing next generation authoring tools, methods and content for learning in a Web 2.0 context.
Since 2015 he has collaborated on educational projects launched by the crowd-sourced online journal, Fair Observer, contributed numerous articles on culture, politics and education and is a member of the Fair Advisory Committee. He is the creator and writer of a daily feature, the Daily Devil's Dictionary.
Peter is currently spearheading the launch of Fair Observer Education, a European NGO which links various initiatives in the field of education with the journalistic innovations of Fair Observer.
In 1995 Peter Isackson was a member of the steering committee that founded Online Educa Berlin. He is an expert with the European Commission in the area of TEL (technology enhanced learning).
Links
John Harper
Founder and President, Grapple News, USA
After a career writing for two of the United States' largest metropolitan daily newspapers, I left the newspaper industry to find a solution to the pervasive fraudulent and misleading content that plagues online news feeds. I have a degree in economics from Tulane University of New Orleans and also studied at the Warsaw School of Economics. I live in Brooklyn, New York and work as a contributing writer for The Points Guy, Occupy Democrats and others.
Links
Harold Elletson
Editor / Senior Fellow, Communications Consultant and Senior Fellow, the Institute for Statecraft, UK
Dr Harold Elletson is an International Communications Consultant and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft.
He is a founding director of the Africa Forum on Business, Investment and Security, a member of the steering committee of OEB, a member of the Organising Committee of eLearning Africa and a consultant to ICWE GmbH. He is also the editor of The eLearning Africa Report.
Dr Elletson was previously Director of the NATO Forum on Business and Security, which he created with support from the NATO Science Programme.
A former Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1992-1997), he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the early stages of the peace process and was also a member of the Select Committee on Environmental affairs. He served as a member of the Lancashire Education Authority (the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council) before being elected to Parliament where he represented the interests of schools and colleges in his constituency in discussions with Ministers and on the floor of the House of Commons. He is a Fellow of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme and of the Industry and Parliament Trust.
As a communications and public affairs specialist, he has advised many leading companies on aspects of their business in challenging markets, including BP in Azerbaijan and Alstom in Siberia. He has written widely on political and historical subjects and his first book, The General Against the Kremlin, that was published by Little Brown. His journalism has been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines. Dr Elletson holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Bradford.