How to keep the qualities of the face-to-face meeting

With the new social media landscape and the multitude of possibilities to get connected electronically, we often forget that meeting face-to-face is the most stimulating way for communication. Chat is needed for questions and short, rather superficial messages. Blogs can go deeper, but as our Estonian friends wrote, a face-to-face meeting is more stimulating and dynamic and we learn more from each other, which is the heart of the Society. GoToMeeting, Skype, etc. are wonderful tools for electronic meetings but not a holistic way to learn, engage, and develop new ideas. An active network is very important for the educational future, both at national and international levels. Physical meetings are important in this respect. In the European countries, there is a decline in the interest of young teachers to be active members of teacher organisations due to both the development of social media and through lack of time. DKG Society has a very important mission to try to identify ways forward. Our Society is unique, not only owing to our core values but also that we are the only pedagogical organisation which engages teachers from all levels, all fields and with an international diversity, both geographically and culturally.  So, we need to highlight the importance of face-to-face meetings both at thematic conferences and at international conventions, and we need to find an electronic communication which is closer to face-to-face discussion. If you have fresh ideas, Iet’s try the blog to discuss.