The web is changing how we learn. It surrounds us with a massive and remixable tapestry of perspectives, facts and data. It gives us the freedom to learn whatever we want at our own speed and in our own way. It lets us become our own teachers. Fundamentally: the free and open nature of the internet is revolutionizing learning.

Who among us has not fallen into a long journey across the web on a surprising topic? Or learned a new skill by making, building or creating something online? Or, for that matter, found a new mentor or apprentice in a forum or on a social network? More and more, this is how we learn.

The open technology and culture of the Internet are at the heart of this revolution. They give us raw material to take control of our own learning. Teachers and learners around the world are experimenting, inventing, creating, exploring and building in wonderful ways with this raw material. Mozilla's 2010 Drumbeat Festival is a gathering of these people.

WHAT? Shaping the future of learning right now.

Drumbeat Festival 2010 will showcase people, ideas and projects making connections between learning, freedom and the web. Things like:
* A secure 'data backpack' where students control their own learning materials and credentials
* Libraries transformed into digital garages where kids learn to make, do and create with an agile, hacker attitude
* Massively scaled apprenticeship, we people learn by diving into the world of open source master craftspeople
* Hackerspaces where people teach each other about everything from robots to lasers to knitting
* Alternative accreditation models based on web and open source peer review techniques
The idea is to gather people with the puzzle pieces needed to ideas like these real: data portability; open educational resources; secure, decentralized storage in the cloud; open content licenses; agile thinking; open, user controlled online identity; massive, credible informal learning opportunities; passion.

WHO? Inventors. Learners. Hackers. Teachers. Artists. You!

The good news: we have all these puzzle pieces in our hands already. We just need the right people to get into a room and use them. That's the spirit of the Drumbeat Festival.

People and orgs we'll invite to Barcelona include: Web tech companies. P2P University course leaders. Digital learning startups. Hackerspaces. Creative Commoners. Online identity experts. Wikipedians. Software developers. Filmmakers. Web standards nerds. Open web activists. Artists. Web developers. Teachers. Foundations. And, of course, learners of all stripes.

WHY is Mozilla doing this?

We believe that everyone has a role in keeping the web open and vibrant. That's why we started Mozilla Drumbeat: a collection of practical projects and local events that gather smart, creative people around big ideas that improve the open web. The annual Drumbeat Festival is a part of this, bringing together people doing things at the intersection of the open web and other important aspects of our society. The first Festival will focus on the connection between learning, freedom and the web.

The Festival will take place on November 4 + 5 in Barcelona, with an opening keynote and reception on the evening of November 3.