Recently I was invited as a keynote speaker for the online event Global Learning for an Open World (GLOW) Conference 2025. This event was organised by the very hard working and visionary Lucy Gray who leads the professional learning community Actionable Innovations Global. Lucy is a long time friend of mine and we have connected and collaborated for years around online global learning. She was following my sabbatical journey and asked if I could provide perspectives based on new findings as well as share some of my past experiences. Challenge accepted, especially after a year of reflection, contemplation, and above all introspection related to ongoing challenges working in higher education.

Constructing the keynote became an auto-ethnographical journey quite pertinent to where I am now in my longish career. It shares my experience in education is as an educator and an education leader across K-12 and higher education globally. It shares my disposition to be an early adopter of edtech and a creative innovator and collaborator. The keynote artefacts are shared – video, slides and summary as well as a key message for the future. What I did not say during the keynote and want to share here is how a long journey in education with a range of experiences and opportunities across the globe over many years shapes a person to become a whole individual who is flexible, adaptable, and ready to take on new challenges.

Summary (AI-generated)

This keynote presentation, titled “Morphing with Purpose,” chronicles the professional evolution of Julie Lindsay from a K-12 music educator to a leader in higher education technology. Her journey is framed through three distinct “morphs” that reflect the changing landscape of global education and technology integration.

The First Morph: From Isolated Classroom to Global Connector

Lindsay’s initial transformation began during 15 years of teaching across five countries, including Zambia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Qatar, and China.

• The Flat Classroom Project: In 2006, while in Bangladesh, she co-founded the Flat Classroom Project with Vicki Davis. This initiative was inspired by Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, and even featured a personal endorsement from Friedman himself.
• Flattening Learning: The core philosophy was to break down classroom hierarchies, turning everyone—students and teachers alike—into both learners and leaders.
• Seven Steps to Flattening: Lindsay identifies seven key steps for this process: Connection, Communication, Citizenship, Contribution & Collaboration, Choice, Creation, and Celebration.

The Second Morph: From K-12 Pioneer to Higher Ed Innovator

This phase focuses on her academic transition, culminating in a 2019 PhD focused on pedagogical change through online global collaboration.

• Cosmogogy: Lindsay coined the term “Cosmogogy,” defined as the practice of learning while connected to the world. Unlike traditional methods, the context of learning is “with” the world rather than just “about” it.
• Global Collaborator Mindset (GCM): She outlines four pillars essential for educators in this space: Connection (building relationships across boundaries), Openness (receptivity to human and AI interaction), Autonomy (self-regulation within ecosystems), and Innovation (creating new solutions).

The Third Morph: Human-AI-World Ecosystems

The current stage of Lindsay’s career explores how human intelligence, AI, and the physical world interact to form new learning ecosystems.

• HyFlex and Flat Learning: She advocates for HyFlex learning, where asynchronous communication serves as the “glue” that holds online learning together, allowing students to remain active collaborators regardless of their physical location.
• AI as an Equal Partner: Moving beyond viewing AI as a tool, Lindsay proposes integrating AI agents as active team members. For example, “Collaboration Cosmo” is an AI agent designed to bridge time zones and participate in project development as a peer-level collaborator.
• Redefining Assessment: She suggests moving toward Process-Based Assessment and Global Peer Evaluation (GPE), which value the journey of co-creation and intercultural understanding over static outcomes.

Ultimately, Lindsay argues that the goal is not to have AI replace humans, but to use it to “help us become more human” by facilitating deeper global connections and solving authentic world challenges. She encourages educators to reject “either/or” thinking and instead embrace being “local AND global, inclusive AND innovative”.

To understand this evolution, one might think of the classroom not as a stationary room with four walls, but as a living digital bridge; it is no longer a destination where knowledge is delivered, but a platform where learners across the globe continuously meet to build something new together.