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Good afternoon everybody.

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I was actually invited
to give a speech about my PhD.

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I asked those who invited me,

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"Are you really sure you want me
to talk about my PhD?"

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They said, "Yes."

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I was like, "Do you want it
to be interesting?"

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They said, "Yes, yes we do."

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I was like, "Let me think again."

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I can tell you though
that working on a PhD is not so exciting.

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It's a lot of studying,
it's a lot of reading,

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it's a lot of writing,

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and lately, it's a lot of time
spent with my laptop.

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So today, I'm going to talk
about some issues behind my PhD,

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and how to use online learning tools
for higher education in fragile areas.

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I'm going to talk about
current learning technologies

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- especially if we have
good Internet access -

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those smart, good tools
that we are using on a daily basis,

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and about how they could be
used more effectively

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in fragile areas for conflict prevention.

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Let's start with a couple
of stories and pictures.

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What do you see in this picture here?

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Do you see a kid? A child?

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You surely see somebody swimming.

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Do you see this as a learning experience

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for somebody who's for the first time
under water in the swimming pool?

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Maybe.

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At the same time,
I see a little kid who's scared

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because that's something new for him.

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The kid is keeping
his eyes open all the time,

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because he doesn't know
what is going to happen next.

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No one really told him

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that he should use swimming goggles

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when he's swimming.

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Let's go to the next one;
what about this picture?

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We see children again, happy ones.

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They're maybe enjoying their school day
as being part of their education.

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Do you see leaders? Future leaders maybe?

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Because those are going to be the kids
who are going to be educated.

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These are kids that are smart.

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They maybe make some new innovations
for the Cleantech.

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Those might be the kids

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who will actually find out answers
for Europe's migration challenges.

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Maybe, we'll see migration from Europe
to these countries as well, in the future.

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If you didn't see it
like this, why is that?

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Is it because they come
from poorer backgrounds,

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or maybe because they don't have
access to electricity and education?

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Think about that. Maybe that's why,

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The truth of the matter
is that we're surrounded

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by conflict and violence
in these affected areas

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and more and more people,
especially children and kids,

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are affected by this.

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The political situation
is a little bit uncertain,

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and the future doesn't seem so bright.

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I know that people
are working hard to help,

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they're really trying to support
these countries and their people,

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find out a way to educate them.

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find out a way to bring them
clean water or food, in the future.

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But the facts I've been
commenting on are not so bright,

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so I've been thinking
that we should fill in these gaps somehow,

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we should figure out smarter solutions
to tackle these future challenges.

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A smart man, Nelson Mandela, said
that education is the most powerful weapon

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we can actually use
to change the world in the future.

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Why is it so?

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People in our society, on a daily basis,

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go to school, enjoy
education, get educated,

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We have our goals,

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and orientation to the world of work,

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but we can also empower
societies through education.

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And this could also be
in the future a solution

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to conflicts and crises in fragile areas,

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and one of the weapons or ways
out of extreme poverty.

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Like I said, I'm going to talk
about online learning tools,

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and then we jump into your experiences.

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I am sure that all of us
have our experiences

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with learning management systems

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as part of our school days,
as part of our university days,

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maybe as part of our work days.

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Everyone has experienced them
in one way or another,

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and I've heard about
a lot of challenges, as well.

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There are always some log-in challenges
- you cannot get access -

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but at the same time, these systems
are a very good tool for sharing documents

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storing them, collecting data,
or having a discussion.

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They also bring communities
around a certain system at the same time.

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The challenge seem to be
that those are complex systems.

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People need access to education,
like we do have, which is a good thing.

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Meanwhile, those learning
systems also need

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somebody who is facilitating them
on a regular basis.

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But when you have this feeling

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- when you need to hand in your essay,
or return your working hours

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no matter if it is a school or work day -

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that you have a problem logging in,

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you need to call somebody,
you need to email somebody.

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and it can take hours, maybe days,
to get the right information back.

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Hopefully, it is faster than that.

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So there's a complexity issue

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at the core of the learning management
systems that we are currently using.

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Despite that, we seem to be motivated
to use our mobile devices.

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I see here some people I can recognize.

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We use to scroll on Twitter,

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we like to check our Facebook status
and talk with our friends on Facebook.

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It's very easy to do so
and a fast way to get access to videos.

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You want to spend time with [inaudible];

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you maybe use Dropbox or whatever.

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You are motivated
to use these online learning tools.

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Actually, I call them
online learning tools

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because you're learning
from them all the time.

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At the same time,

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I think that motivation is
key in the learning process itself.

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It's much better to be motivated
to use technology,

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it's much better to use the technology
that you already know.

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And at the same time,

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these are the tools we currently use
on a daily basis, globally.

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So this is the question
I introduced in the beginning,

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"Are we maybe looking for something else

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to tackle challenges that are globally
present in fragile and conflict areas?

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Should we maybe be matching
these two things, ICT and good education.

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to open up these opportunities
for kids and children,

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and higher education?

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Especially now, when mobile devices
are used more than ever before?

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Maybe these could also be the answers

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on how to tackle these challenges
in the future.

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Because in the end, I still think
that despite complexity

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- we've lots of complex issues
in the world -

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it seems that the right answers
might be simpler:

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somebody should talk to this kid

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and tell him it's much more comfortable
to wear swimming goggles

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to avoid his eyes getting so red.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)