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In
many ways he introduced the original Learning Revolution, and we have rediscovered
it. Link many of those traditional truths with the latest brain research, and the latest
in instant communications, and you have the potential for China to once again lead the
world.
And perhaps that is not surprising. For more than 2,000
years the Chinese learned mathematics with the world's earliest accelerated-learning
"tool", the abacus or suanpan. With columns of moveable beads, it can be
used to add, subtract, multiply and divide, from single units up to trillions. Two of the
other great "learning tools" for teaching mathematics - playing cards and
dominoes - were also invented in China centuries ago. So, too, were paper and printing.
Invent your own model
But why wait for anyone else to lead when you can
create your own model?
 In
Singapore, Indian-born former senior shipping executive Dilip Mukerjea has become so
fascinated by new learning methods that he now guarantees to teach anyone to become a
competent freehand artist in five days, using methods developed by Betty Edwards and
illustrated in Drawing on The Right Side of the Brain. He's taking up the
Government's challenge for private-sector participation in its "learning
revolution" by teaching students, parents and teachers the key principles of Mind
Mapping, super memory, effective reading and creativity.
In
Australia, one of the world's most effective facilitators, Perth's Glenn Capelli, has
taken much of the learning-revolution research and turned it into songs, television
scripts and interactive corporate and school training programs. His keynote topics
illustrate his unique approach: On humor and health: what we learn from apple juice;
Dealing with change: what we learn from raindrops; Continuous improvement: what
we learn from frogs; Entheos - the power of enthusiasm: what we learn from
optimism; If we're so smart, how come we're so dumb? what we learn
from whales; The art and science of relationships: what we learn from cereal boxes.16
In Auckland, New Zealand,
school teacher Kristine A. McLaren has developed a complete Integrated Reading Program for
young children, and is marketing it internationally with her accountant husband.
In Dunedin, New Zealand, several key staff members at the
University of Otago, have been collecting some of their country's best examples of
learning through computers and the Internet. They are now
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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