Stephen Downes

Three questions, and not the most imaginative of answers. To the first question, "What work related concern keeps you up at night," I tend to think of the worldwide need for equity and access to knowledge. And not "aligning with institutional mission" (does that really trouble someone? How sad). To the second question, "What is the most exciting trend in higher education," I tend to think of open learning, worldwide access to knowledge, and personal empowerment. Not, you know, "Offsite data protection." To the third question, "What is the most important characteristic of a leader," I would answer things like "integrity", "respect" and "honesty", and maybe "vision". Not "apply the appropriate behaviors to achieve optimum effectiveness." I raise these, not to make fun of the answers, but to raise the very serious question of how the dynamics of the conference change what would normally be thoughtful responses into corporate-speak. Are we that easily brainwashed?