Image Source: Amount of hits generated by 03/14/2009 Classroom 2.0 LIVE Show

When I saw this graph, I laughed at how funny it was. . .this graph reflected interest in free learning and ideas shared with 151 people in the LIVE show, and many more afterwards who didn’t make the show. The laugh came as I realized that this learning and sharing wasn’t about making money off each other but bringing together a community of learners who wanted to find out more. The focus wasn’t on commercializing an event, but sharing learning freely.

I recently received an email sharing the number of hits resulting from the Classroom 2.0 LIVE Show that I had the opportunity to be a part of. At first, I didn’t want to participate in Classroom 2.0 LIVE. I felt that I had little to contribute, especially when the discussion turned to blogs and podcasts. Upon further reflection, I realized that it wasn’t I had nothing to contribute but that it was passé for me…I wanted to have a conversation about things I was interested in NOW, not yesterday. It was a selfish act. I wanted to learn about how teachers were using Moodle in Classrooms.

As a technical writer, I’ve found that the best way forward in any situation is to take the route of the ignorant seeking enlightenment. The world is fresh and new when you’re ignorant and discovering the world, one flower at a time. I imagine myself as the tourist in the big city, captivated by the sights, smells and sounds of success.

When I reflect on the thinking of people at conferences, I wonder that I have anything to share. As a fellow writer put it once, it’s the worry that people will find out you’re a fraud. Transparency compels me to share that admitting I couldn’t answer those teacher questions about Moodle bothered me. A part of me felt that I SHOULD have known the answer. . .but I didn’t. I count it a success that I was able to admit my ignorance, and ask someone like Tomas Lasic to speak up and share his wisdom. It’s irony that he writes at the Human blog. Such a simple reminder.

In a few months, people will be gathering to share what they know at a variety of conferences. I’ll be at 3 conferences myself, sharing what I know…and, don’t know. I’m increasingly aware of the community of learners, of people who share without hope of financial gain and who seek only an affirmation from others along the journey.

I’ve had a brief stint as a keynote speaker (and may be so again in the near future)…and I’ll share something with you that has eaten away at my heart. I still identify with Moses, when God commanded him to go before Pharaoh. I love how this conversation goes on and on, and at each point when God “stops to take a breath” after giving Moses the job of a lifetime “Lead my people out of Egypt,” Moses speaks up…

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go out to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And then, God gives more instructions about what needs to happen, and Moses, again says…

“But,” objected Moses, “suppose they will not believe me, nor listen to my plea? For they may say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.'”

So, God gives him some hard proof. And yet, it’s still not enough.

Moses, however, said to the Lord, “If you please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor recently, nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The Lord gets exasperated it seems and reminds Moses of who gives the power of speech. But Moses….

Yet he insisted, “If you please, Lord, send someone else!“

I love Moses’ recalcitrance, his reluctance to do the job, even when God commanded him. I identify with Moses at his worst, at his weakest moment in front of God.

Why recount this story? Well, when I consider the greatness of the K-12 Online Conference, as well as other conferences like the one George Siemens and Stephen Downes put together, I’m reminded that many of us are like Moses, common people charged with delivering a message that is of vital importance. I’m reminded that while there are awesome people–like George and Stephen–there are others like Moses who want to know why THEY are the ones that have to share the message. That’s real.

In spite of the importance of our message, we think someone else should deliver it, someone else is better suited. Someone else will rise up and get the job done.

The truth is, it is because of who we are, where we are, when we are, that what is, must be shared and that we are responsible for sharing it. It would be easy in this world to believe that it’s still about the money, that it’s about commercializing the message. Having served as a keynote speaker, as a published writer paid for his scribblings–and grateful for the income those have brought it–I’m reminded of Moses and the Israelites wandering in the desert, grateful for their daily bread.

I find a kinship with that image, each of us as bloggers and learners and educators, receiving what we need to learn via a learning network that is both tenuous, dependent on the kindness of strangers, and powerful in the bounty it brings to us.

I am always uncomfortable when I think about taking money for what I am learning. Instead, I tell myself I’m charging for the time I spend as a keynote speaker away from home, away from work, away from the learning that comes on a daily basis. I question what I have to contribute to grand events like K12OnlineConference and others, and I wonder whether someone else will deliver the message that has been given to me to share.

Do you?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure