:Connecting the Dots

I sympathize with Scott MacLeod, who decries the information overload he experienced at NECC.  In my case, the problem with being connected was less about the overload of information emanating from the conference and more with my inability to avoid niggling issues back at work.  Monday morning started off with a cell phone call from the high school assistant principal about a problem with comments on report cards.  With my laptop, I was able to troubleshoot the problem in our web-based SIS.  More issues followed.  Even when someone wasn’t calling me, I was checking e-mail.  As a result, I found myself missing out on large chunks of lectures, workshops, etc.

I’m not a bad multi-tasker, either.  But I can’t help feeling that the thing that we all celebrate so much about computers and the internet - being connected when and where we want - has its dark side and at least in this case somewhat prevented me from fully enjoying the face-to-face interactions at the conference. I wonder if students ever feel this way when they are barraged by texts and calls from friends during class or when they are trying to enjoy a movie or be with their friends.  We all assume that, unlike us, they enjoy and can manage that full-time connected-ness.  Perhaps not.  Can being connected prevent your from connecting?

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Well, another NECC has come and gone.  My family flew into San Anto yesterday and we’ll stick around Texas for the next week or so.  I was so drained from the conference that I fell asleep at 8:30 PM and didn’t wake up until 7:30 the next morning.  That’s close to a record for me.

Anyway, I’m still sorting it all out, but here’s a few of my initial reactions/reflections/thoughts/questions:

“Student-safe” Social Networking Sites are Big

I saw a number of these guys on the show floor, most notably Uniservity and SayWire.  There were others but these are the two I remember because they were such an interesting study in contrasts.  SayWire felt very provincial with a USA-only focus.  It was demoed for me by a teacher from Ohio and the emphasis seemed to be on collaboration within the school or district.  In contrast, Uniservity, a UK company, decked its booth out with flags of the world and brought students in from Hong Kong to demo their software.  Interestingly, they seed collaboration by launching their own content and projects for schools and teachers to sign on to.  SayWire essentially provides the network tool (similar to Ning, I suppose).  I think Uniservity’s global outlook is much more exciting.  Of course, there’s always TakingITGlobal, which I’ll be taking another look at after hearing about it in a number of sessions.

Going Global with VC

Along the same lines, the conference renewed my interest in moving our district beyond virtual field trip videoconferences and towards collaboration with other classrooms and institutions around the world.  Jody Kennedy’s session with Global Nomads Group, Global Education Motivators, and Global LEAP may have been the best I attended, and having dinner with Wayne from GEM hatched all kinds of ideas in my mind.

Synthesis (?)

I heard the term TPCK (”Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge”) in two separate sessions and, as I understand it, the whole idea is to pull back the lens enough to see how technology fits into the broader picture.  Are we finally almost there?  My friends John Ellrodt and Maria Fico discussed in their session how thier non-profit, GlobalWRITES, supports poetry slams and writers workshops using videoconferencing.  I’ve seen them present on it before but what struck me this time is how uninteresting it probably was to most of the pure techies in the room.  Not because what they do isn’t good - it’s amazing.  But because the technology in their project is at once essential and unremarkable.  The focus is on the content and the learning.  I was happy to learn that John and Maria will be presenting at NCTE, where I think they will get a very warm reception.  Maybe the discussion is finally getting past the tools.  Maybe…

Best Product

As our teachers and students have started to generate more multimedia, we’ve struggled to find a place to put it.  In many cases, we want to limit access to the district’s teachers and students only.  And we want to be able to stream the audio and video files we create.  Our CMS limits the size of file uploads and there is very limited support for RSS, so podcasting would be difficult if not impossible.  Enter Discovery MediaShare.  Each school has it’s own space to upload user-created content and, according to policy, one or more approvers can release files created by students and teachers to the rest of the school, the district, or the whole world.  The media files stream and there are very generous upload limits.  And, yes MediaShare does RSS.  It also integrates with the rest of the Discovery Streaming, so when a user searches the database, the scope of the search can include user-contributed content and the usernames and passwords are the same, to boot.  I’m really excited about this product.

NECC Unplugged

I met Steve Hargadon after the Classroom 2.0 BOF session and shared with him my enthusiasm for NECC Unplugged and my ideas about how it could be better situated near the Blogger’s Cafe next year instead of directly in it.  What a nice, thoughtful guy.  I’m optimistic that NECC Unplugged will be a highlight next year and for years to come.  It’s great to have a place where the “little guys” can share their ideas and successes, try out potential large-scale presentations, and learn from one another.  I’m looking forward to doing multiple presentations next time around.

That’s it for now.  Still leafing through pamphlets, URL’s, and notes.  But also just enjoying this very pretty city.

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As Scott McLeod points out, not everyone is happy with the arrival of NECC Unplugged at the Blogger’s Cafe.  Havinig spent time in the BC and presented at NECC Unplugged I, too, think the integration of the two could have been handled a little better - or else they should go their separate ways next year.   To begin with, the positioning of the BC at the conference site was great in terms of drawing lots of people from the nearby foot traffic on the concourse.  This was great for getting people involved but boy, did it make it tough to present.  Also, the layout of the space itself made it difficult.  It seemed like the Unplugged presenter was shoe-horned into the corner but the tables and seats were pushed out into the middle of the area.  There was a large gulf between the speaker and the audience, which meant he/she needed a mic and had to speak all the more loudly to engage everyone.  This in turn probably distracted all those who just came to sit quietly and reflect or to share some conversation with a friend in the Cafe.

The solution?  Maybe next year the Unplugged “stage” is placed in a space adjacent to the Cafe, where people can watch and hear what is going on, if they like, but also have the opportunity to do their BC thing in peace.  It’s important that all of those bloggers still have access to the Unplugged content, but they shouldn’t feel like we’ve invaded.

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I presented at NECC Unplugged today in a very noisy but welcoming Blogger’s Cafe.  My topic was, “Grassroots Technology Change, or: Stop Telling People What to Do.”  I spent a long time preparing a long text for a 10-minute “TED-type” talk.  When the time came, I plugged in my mic and opened the floodgates.  It was hard to stay focused on the text and hard to keep people engaged with so many people walking past and so many conversations going on around the room.  But more clapped than booed  (OK, no one booed) and at least one attendee came up afterwards to congratulate me and discuss.  It was over before it began but I’m glad I did it.  Click here to view the complete version of that long text.

The weirdest moment occured as I was waiting to present and took a casual look around the room.  The woman sitting next to me was reading this blog!  So strange to see your writing on someone else’s screen…

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My bags may not be packed yet, but at least I’m thinking about what I’ll be bringing to San Antonio when I attend NECC next week. I’m also thinking about where I’ll go, what I’ll do, and who I want to see when I’m there. Undoubtedly, I will be spending a lot of time talking to vendors as I stroll the show floor; I would estimate that in each of my other visits to NECC I’ve probably spent about 5-8 hours walking through the exhibit hall.

So I appreciate all too well Ryan Bretag’s warnings about getting swept up in the buzzwords and glitz when you walk through those convention hall doors. Bretag has chosen not to attend this year, apparently fed up with not only the salespeople but the pundits and attendees mindlessly spouting “web 2.0″ and the like. Maybe a little extreme, but I think he’s right in encouraging those of us who do attend to be critical. Thinking about his post, I would suggest keeping in mind the following when dealing with those sweet-talking reps:

They want your district’s money and while they might not lie to get it, they will certainly bend the truth. Go up to a software vendor whose literature describes their product as geared towards K-6 and tell them you teach eighth grade. Sit back and enjoy the show…

As you talk to them, ask yourself if this person really knows their product. And then ask yourself if they really understand education. Have they ever worked in a school? Did they use technology in the classroom? How long ago was that?

One of my favorite questions when talking to vendors is, “There are about 20 different brands of whoozy-whatzits on the market. What differentiates yours from the rest?” Another gem: “What do people dislike the most about this product and what is your company doing to address those issues?”

As you discuss that wonderful piece of hardware/software/web site/etc., expand your consideration to include things like the availability of support, training, and user communities. What is the roadmap for the future development of this product?
There are always other attendees standing around the booth while you’re getting a demo. Talk to them about what you’re seeing. Learn from them and be frank in sharing your reactions and let the sales team overhear and react.

The absolute bottom line: how will this help students in my class/school/district to learn? So easy to lose sight of with that shiny gizmo in your hands and Mr. Salesperson whispering sweet nothings in your ear - but so crucial!

I think it’s helpful to think ahead of time about what you want to see. In my case, I’m going to be looking at document cameras, web-based keyboarding software, and possibly anti-spam solutions. Going in with a shopping list prevents you from getting distracted and allows you to minimize time on the floor and maximize time spent with colleagues in and out of sessions talking about learning. After all, that’s what we’re going there for, isn’t it?

Image: Chestnuts for Sale by The Beardster (Creative Commons)

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Vicki Davis is talking about how the AP’s backlash against bloggers might portend a similar clash between blogging teachers and more “established” voices in the Ed Tech world.  I’m not sure it’s going to be so.  Is it a shift away from control of the discourse by powerful institutions or is it an expansion of the discourse to include more, smaller members of the ed tech community?  Personally, I don’t think the powerful corporations, state and local school hierarchies, and “cult of personality” pundits are going anywhere any time soon.  But I do think that blogging will put more of them into direct contact with the people “in the trenches” and give those people more of a say.  It’s not a bigger slice of the pie for the small guys - it’s a bigger pie.

I’m reading The Long Tail right now and one important point that he makes is that the niche items in the long tail don’t displace the “hits” at the head.  Hits - massive ideas/products coming from powerful people/organizations - are not necessarily going anywhere.  It’s easy to miss this point in the book but it’s an important.  Wal-mart will still be the #1 music retailer in America with its puny selection of 4500 CD’s in each store; at the same time, Amazon and iTunes will continue to make money hand over fist selling millions of MP3 files that that only get a handful of downloads per track.  In the same way, I think we will always have textbook companies, state mandates, and “establishment” ed tech pundits running around conferences.  But they will be sharing the stage with a lot of “nobodies.”  The smartest among them will welcome it and profit from building those connections.

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I’ve always been a fan of focused, incremental professional development. Find a few areas that are “ripe” and work them hard with whatever group of teachers you happen to be helping. I talk with a building tech committee and ask them what they think we should be focusing on and we’ll throw around a few topics and that largely sets my agenda for part or all of the school year. For example, at our high school, we made a push with wikis during the spring, and a few of our teachers made important steps forward in their classrooms.

But David Warlick’s got me thinking that, especially with the constellation of web 2.0 technologies, maybe each tool can’t be taught in isolation from the rest. In a post on “Tying It Together,” he discusses one teacher who approached him recently and said that she was finally “getting it” after seeing a presentation on web 2.0 and personal learning networks:

She continued that she knew about and had played with blogs, wikis, and RSS, and understood them functionally. But she said that after this conference she saw how they all worked together, that there really is a new connectedness today where information flows in logical and directable ways, connecting us not only to the content we need, but to the people we need, not merely because of proximity — but through the content.

Maybe trying to teach teachers about blogging without introducing them to RSS and wikis is a mistake. Maybe the “focus on one tool at a time” approach is robbing teachers of the context they need to understand how these technologies support and reinforce one another and, taken as a group, represent a whole new communication paradigm.

But who has the time? With so few hours for professional development, how can we effectively introduce teachers to “the whole enchilada” in a way that is meaningful, in a way that connects with classroom practice? And does such an approach result in information overload? Is it better to ask teachers to try to swallow the whole web 2.0 thing at once and then go out and integrate it with their practice or to keep them moving along a slow and steady path that may prevent them from seeing the big picture, a path where one tool is forgotten/discarded by the time the next one comes along? Our teachers are standing on the deck staring down in to the giant pool that is the read/write web; do we structure professional development along the lines of toe-dipping or cannonballs?

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Will Richardson brought my attention to Nicholas Carr’s Atlantic Monthly article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr poses the question: Is the internet re-wiring our brains? Noting that he and many of his friends can no longer concentrate deeply as they read for extended periods, Carr asks if the way we think is being shaped by this new medium of hyperlinks and infoglut. Obviously skeptical about the internet as a positive force in the evolution of our culture, Carr nevertheless makes some good points and raises some very valid concerns. I have two specific problems with his article, however:

1. I think his characterization of Google as the embodiment of Taylor’s principles of scientific management is way off:

In Google’s view, information is a kind of commodity, a utilitarian resource that can be mined and processed with industrial efficiency. The more pieces of information we can “access” and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers.

This is the company that tells its engineers to spend 20% of their time working on projects of their choosing not directly related to their core job function. They manipulate their corporate logo to commemorate significant dates in the progress of the arts and science.  There’s a lot about Google that scares me; but I think that overall their corporate culture is one that celebrates non-linear thinking and creativity.  In the same way that so many viewed the IBM of the 50’s and 60’s as a monolithic culture of conformity and order (in spite of their “Think” motto), I think Carr mis-characterizes Google’s attempt to make information manageable in the service of free thought as an attempt to mechanize thought. 

2. I have to assume that an editor titled the piece. I say this because in spite of all of his concerns about how the Internet is changing the way we think, Carr is very honest about his abivalence. He opens his conclusion noting, “Maybe I’m just a worrywort.” And while he offers a very convincing argument that the internet is changing how we process information, I don’t think he ever goes so far as to equate that new way of thinking with “stupidity.” Regardless of whether it is Carr or his editor who is to blame, I think we have to stop and consider not only what we have lost, but what we have gained. If we do indeed “think in hyperlinks,” then perhaps we are developing a new capacity to draw connections between disparate ideas, people, and works. Perhaps the structure of the internet reflects the way our culture has evovled into a postmodern one characterized by diversity and interconnectedness and if our brains our evolving in the same direction, they will serve us all the better in this new world. 

Carr shows that clearly the notion of what terms like “literacy” and “intelligence” is changing.  Will we stand by and let others define what’s important or will we play a role in re-interpreting these concepts?

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In The Next Generation of Bloggers, Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb brought my attention to youthbloggers.net, a community for teen bloggers.  It looks like it’s just getting off the ground but I’m happy to see kids supporting and encouraging one another as they try to get their message out to the world.  Imagine that: kids helping each other with writing in their free time.  So much for the, “kids can’t write because they spend all day playing video games” theory. 

What does it say that teens had to create their own support community to learn how to blog?  I guess they’re not getting it in schools, where I suspect the five-paragraph “sandwich” essay (”Your introduction and conclusion are the bread, the three body paragraphs are the ham and cheese!”) still reigns supreme.  I guess that, faced with writing in artificial genres and for a limited audience of one (the teacher), kids have chosen to create their own learning community where they can work together to understand how to communicate in this new medium.  More power to them; I’ll be watching youthbloggers.net as it grows.

One concern: many of the forum posts focus on blogging for money.  I suppose that’s OK - it’s easy to forget how cash-strapped we all were at that age and how hard it is to find a job.  But I hope to see kids blogging out of a sense of passion, intellectual curiosity, and activism.  Hopefully, youthbloggers will help teens with something to say to develop their voice and get their message heard.

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I introduced PBwiki to a number of teachers at our high school recently. One just ran with it and now has her ninth grade social studies classes busily putting together review materials on her “Globalpedia.” For the others, I’ve decided to offer a little carrot: an online summer reading list for use by the faculties at our three schools. I thought this would be a simple way to expose people to wikis: a wiki of just four pages (Introduction, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Biography) which could be read quickly and subjected to simple, minor edits.  Focus on something that most teachers know about and like to do at a time when they are gearing up to do a lot of it.

I started by trying to convince the few teachers who were already comfortable using wikis to go in and add a few books. Nothing more intimidating than a blank page staring back at you when you’re a wiki newbie. Once I had seeded the wiki a bit, I sent a blast e-mail to all of the teachers inviting them to participate. Many responded asking to be invited into the wiki and thanking me for putting it all together. But since then, only a few have actually gone in and added their own favorite books.

Frustrating. Am I being too impatient here? Is it just the wrong time of year? Or is the problem that these people thought they were getting a freebie, an opportunity to grab a few titles and run off to the bookstore without adding their own two cents? Is it just that they don’t get it - the fact that in this world the quality of the resource depends almost entirely on the community’s willingness to build it? Who knows? Maybe it just needs time…

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