Education needs to raise its head and look forward. Electronic communication technologies will not go away nor will the Internet ever be safe using the methods we have historically used to assure safety. Safety on the Internet will come from knowledge and understanding. It will come from reason not statute. Children need to be equipped for their journey into cyberspace. They need to be mentored and guided by reasonable thoughtful adults. For their understanding will eventually be drawn from reflective discussion of what and whom they encounter on the journey. We have begun to develop a new feudal mentality where the only safe place is within the castle walls. Instead we should be celebrating the arrival of a New Renaissance, a true rebirth of learning unfettered by social, political, or cultural dogma. In protecting children from encountering the darker sides of human conduct we also deny them the opportunity to reach out and come in contact directly with children and adults of many cultures. We deny the child in North London the opportunity of learning directly from the family in Afghanistan or from the girl in the townships of South Africa. In turn we may well deny children in emerging nations the opportunity to know us personally and share their unique experiences with us. Yes, to venture out on the Internet is somewhat like going on an Aboriginal "Walk About". It can be a rite of passage but most of all it should be a voyage of discovery of self and others. The institution we call Education seems most concerned about how electronic communication technologies can be used to assist schools in doing what they have always been doing. Essentially that is to deliver a parochial, prescribed curriculum, whose courses of study are imposed upon the learner. This curriculum comes, of course with a cultural imprint which may do little to foster cultural understanding. Children will most likely explore the Internet whether we permit them to or not and by not going with them we leave a void. This void is often filled by those that exploit. Those that become wealthy by exploiting the young can flourish. Another presence must be there to counteract this. It needs to be the voice of reason. It is imperative that we use electronic communication technologies and the Internet to foster global learning. Furthermore the curriculum, here, will most often have to emerge rather than be prescribed. Learners will: chart their way: record their findings and discoveries; build knowledge; develop skills and share information. A global education must be characterised by passion and joy. There should be excitement and hope when embarking on this life-long journey of discovery. We may feel much like the way we felt on our first day of school. School, here, though is not a building but the whole world and the child's world is no longer the school, family, neighbourhood, village, town or nation. It is a community of schools, families, neighourhoods, villages, towns that encompasses the globe. It is a community as easily accessed from home as from the school. It is a community of which parents are free to become full members whenever they choose. The constructive view of education where knowledge is built by the learner is not new, but it is poorly understood. It was the way of Copernicus and Galileo who built their knowledge in spite of cultural and religious dictates. Where would we be today if Columbus and others had not sailed on uncharted waters and Galileo had not "blasphemed" his church? To explore does not assure that you will find what you are expected to find or that you will draw the conclusions expected of you. Cabot found fish not gold. The challenge to educators is to go on the journey with the youngsters and on the journey assume the role of learners as well as teachers. They must be the guides that provide the wisdom that can only come from experience while the children provide the wisdom that can only come from innocence. Learning and knowledge building, then is a partnership founded on mutual respect and reason. Give children in a deprived community or an emerging nation not only the technology but a vehicle like Schoolnet Global and they can learn to speak for themselves.cIn this way things like racial prejudice can be counteracted by inter-racial understanding. Children then can become more than citizens of their nation, they can become citizens of the world and ambassadors of peace and understanding.