I’m delighted to say that I’ve again joined with Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay (Beijing (BISS) International School, China) to issue two global video challenges on how the social web nurtures teaching, learning, collaboration, and innovation for the 21st century.

Just as we did last year, the Net Gen Education Challenge is a call for ideas to shape the future of education. However, this year we’ve also added the MacroWikinomics Challenge. We’re looking for ideas on how to fix the world’s institutions, such as business, government, social service, and the institutional thinking that prohibits creative problem solving.

The genesis of this year’s challenge goes back to the forming of the Flat Classroom Project, which was founded in 2006 to connect Julie Lindsay’s classroom at the International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Vicki Davis’ classroom at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. The project has grown to link more than 1,500 students from 20 countries in four projects with face-to-face conferences. The projects harnesses leading Web 2.0 technologies to connect students in powerful learning environments where they learn, connect, and improve their cultural understanding. For more details, visit www.flatclassroomproject.org.

This year’s grand prize winners for the Net Gen Education Challenge and the MacroWikinomics Challenge will receive US$1,000 and a one-hour webinar by me to include members of the winner’s organization or school. Each of the ten finalists will receive a signed copy of Grown Up Digital by me and a personalized signed copy of Wikinomics by me and Anthony D. Williams.

I’m also inviting people to nominate any school within the K-12 range for the eChalk School Prize, a prize that awards a school anywhere in the world with eChalk’s Anytime Package – a suite of online communication and collaboration tools pioneered specifically for teachers, students and parents – for one year. The prize includes a school website, group and class webpages and workspaces, safe email accounts for faculty, staff and students, and parent access accounts – all in one place to support learning. The winner of the eChalk School Prize will be determined by the school that receives the most votes.

Please join me and the online community to discuss the impact of emerging trends and technologies in building a sustainable future. Video submissions and school nominations will be accepted until May 10, 2010. Learn more at http://grownupdigital.ning.com/