Good afternoon everybody.

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

I asked those who invited me,

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

They said, "Yes."

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

They said, "Yes, yes we do."

I was like, "Let me think again."

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

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

it's a lot of writing,

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

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

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

I'm going to talk about
current learning technologies

- especially if we have
good Internet access -

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

and about how they could be
used more effectively

in fragile areas for conflict prevention.

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

What do you see in this picture here?

Do you see a kid? A child?

You surely see somebody swimming.

Do you see this as a learning experience

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

Maybe.

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

because that's something new for him.

The kid is keeping
his eyes open all the time,

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

No one really told him

that he should use swimming goggles

when he's swimming.

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

We see children again, happy ones.

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

Do you see leaders? Future leaders maybe?

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

These are kids that are smart.

They maybe make some new innovations
for the Cleantech.

Those might be the kids

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

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

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

Is it because they come
from poorer backgrounds,

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

Think about that. Maybe that's why,

The truth of the matter
is that we're surrounded

by conflict and violence
in these affected areas

and more and more people,
especially children and kids,

are affected by this.

The political situation
is a little bit uncertain,

and the future doesn't seem so bright.

I know that people
are working hard to help,

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

find out a way to educate them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why is it so?

People in our society, on a daily basis,

go to school, enjoy
education, get educated,

We have our goals,

and orientation to the world of work,

but we can also empower
societies through education.

And this could also be
in the future a solution

to conflicts and crises in fragile areas,

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

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

and then we jump into your experiences.

I am sure that all of us
have our experiences

with learning management systems

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

maybe as part of our work days.

Everyone has experienced them
in one way or another,

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

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

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

storing them, collecting data,
or having a discussion.

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

The challenge seem to be
that those are complex systems.

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

Meanwhile, those learning
systems also need

somebody who is facilitating them
on a regular basis.

But when you have this feeling

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

no matter if it is a school or work day -

that you have a problem logging in,

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

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

Hopefully, it is faster than that.

So there's a complexity issue

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

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

I see here some people I can recognize.

We use to scroll on Twitter,

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

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

You want to spend time with [inaudible];

you maybe use Dropbox or whatever.

You are motivated
to use these online learning tools.

Actually, I call them
online learning tools

because you're learning
from them all the time.

At the same time,

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

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

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

And at the same time,

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

So this is the question
I introduced in the beginning,

"Are we maybe looking for something else

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

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

to open up these opportunities
for kids and children,

and higher education?

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

Maybe these could also be the answers

on how to tackle these challenges
in the future.

Because in the end, I still think
that despite complexity

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

it seems that the right answers
might be simpler:

somebody should talk to this kid

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

to avoid his eyes getting so red.

Thank you.

(Applause)