Introduction (excerpt)- Part of the mission of the Commonwealth of Learning is to show intellectual leadership in the application of technology to learning. Although electronic communication is fast becoming a vehicle of choice for the discourse that sustains academic debate, the spoken and printed word retains a special role. The country visits that I undertake for COL include speaking engagements that allow me to explore a range of topics touching on learning for development. This booklet is a partial response to the requests that I receive for “hard copies” of these addresses and follows a similar publication in 2005 containing six speeches I gave in Africa.- Sir John Daniel, April 2006