From now until April 30, download this free poster by Peter Reynolds.

http://bit.ly/XG9iRq

Nostalgia is the enemy of progress is a powerful statement. Note: I have heard the quote attributed to Steve Jobs, but I can’t find a reference online – can anyone confirm the source? Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for the past – often, a past that never existed, since memory tends to blur the less desirable aspects and bring into sharper focus only the fonder memories.

As a school technology leader, one of the important roles that I assume is that of change agent. The nostalgia argument is a perennial “go to” for some educators, and it really isn’t useful for me to say “get over it.” I listen sympathetically and nudge people along to the present.

I remember a conversation (in 1992) with a first-grade teacher – she was upset that students were learning to “compose at the keyboard” (what we called it then) and she worried about teaching handwriting. Then she unloaded a 5 minute rant about the fact that district had switched from one handwriting method to another. Later that day, when I recounted this to the Assistant Superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction, he was open-mouthed. The change had happened in 1980, 12 years before! Talk about hanging on.

I have listened to teachers pine for the days of pen and paper, bemoan ebooks, and try to wish away social media. I have worked with a librarian who was very upset when we first bought Follett because “kids need to learn the card catalog” (you know – the old wooden drawers with cards). Change is more painful for some than others and adopting something new means feeling the loss of the old. I get that. I try to honor the loss, but at some point, don’t we all owe our students a modern education that uses the technology of today?

related: The Change Process, Leadership Series: John Kotter

Last week at the METAA Technology Directors’ Professional Development Day, I heard something that was “just in time” for me. I’m sure you are all well-versed in “just in time learning” where the concept is that the learner’s need is what drives the delivery of information or knowledge. Well, I did not even know I needed the analogy I heard, but I have since used it several times and have adopted it as a useful analogy.

One of the speakers from Apple Computer said, in an off-hand comment, something to the effect that we all knew teachers who were speed boats, tugs boats, row boats, or rocks, and that the tug boats were the ones who were not as fast and flashy as the speed boats, but who brought others along. I have looked for a reference to this online and have not found the source, so if you know the source, please share it in a comment.

Here’s why it is so timely. I am working on a professional development plan (a proposal, really) and a keystone of what I would like to implement is to use more “train the trainer” initiatives. We would provide more extensive training to some teachers who would, in turn, provide ongoing training and professional development for their peers.

As I talk my colleagues through the proposal and brainstorm about who might want to volunteer to become a resident expert, I use the analogy, and since I did not find a source online, I have expanded it myself.

The speed boats are the teachers who will grab many new things in technology and will run with them right away. They are the ones on the cutting edge, ready to take risks, run pilots, and talk about their exploits in the teachers’ room. Most teachers, though, are not willing to follow the speed boats. They imagine that the speed boats have the technology special sauce recipe – they know things and can do things mere mortals cannot. The speed boats are the ones I lean on to tell me how new and cutting edge technologies might be useful in teaching and learning.

The tug boats are not as fast as the speed boats. They are not jumping to use every new technology that comes along. They adopt more slowly, but then their progress is more slow and sure. Tug boats have credibility with colleagues – others can see themselves in the tug boat’s shoes – if they can do it, I think I can. The tug boats will bring others along. The tug boats are perfect resident experts and are great to select for the “train the trainer” programs we want to institute. It is even better if they are seen as very expert classroom teachers in general.

Row boats are lagging behind the speed boats and tug boats. They don’t resist technology per se; they are just a little more hesitant and are waiting for reports of success from the faster boats. They are ready to adopt technologies that are tried and true and want compelling evidence that shows their students will benefit before they are ready to use a new technology. They are not going to be the movers and shakers, but for systemic change, it is important to bring them along, and the tug boats can help with that.

Rocks. We all have some rocks. They have no intention of moving and will tell you so. Showing them the successes of tug boats does little to sway them and, in my experience, they usually remain rocks. Luckily, I have met very few of them in my years in public schools.

I’m in mourning. And I’m a little embarrassed that I am, and why I am.

I am going to miss Google Reader, and I am already mourning the loss.

Whenever I facilitate professional development workshops and sessions, I advise teachers to marry the concept but don’t get married to the app (or application or web 2.0 site). Social bookmarking? I taught teachers how to use delicious.com, while in the same moment, explaining the big concepts that they should adopt and get glued to, but to expect that the site would not be permanent.

Get married to the concept, not to the specific tool. I have consoled teachers as they bewailed the loss of WordPerfect, Corel, ClarisWorks, AppleWorks, Blockers and Finders, Lotus 123, AmiPro, The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and more titles than I can remember. Having been in EdTech Leadership for well over 20 years, I have seen many tools come and go (laser discs and emates anyone?) and I have coached people about the constant change that is our lot.

Now it is my turn. I don’t want to let go of Google Reader. OK, rant done. I’ll get over it. Moving on.

True, so true.

This is a really interesting post on how to really simply create slide videos – great for flipped classroom. Try it!!

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In a piece today on Edutopia, School Leaders: Guiding Teachers into the Digital Age,  Anne O’Brien writes about a keynote by Scott Klososky at a recent Ignite Conference.

Scott was talking about effective leadership to make the transition to digital learning. There were several good points, but two that I really connected to.

“Develop three to five technology guideposts for the school. These are goals to work towards — for example, “We want to deliver 35 percent of instruction online.” These goals should take two to three years to accomplish.”

What I relate to most is the acknowledgment that you have to set goals and that they have to be time bounded and achievable. And big goals take time – it’s great to pace them out over two to three years. I am no fan of the mentality that says we plant the seeds in the morning and then expect to mow the grass that evening.

“Differentiate between “digital learning” and “digital plumbing.” Digital learning is how we use technology tools. Digital plumbing is technology infrastructure. Prioritize both, but clearly distinguish between them in developing a technology plan.”

Too often a school or district exhibits a hyper focus on either the infrastructure or the learning goals, depending on the skills and interests of the technology leader.  Emphasizing either to the detriment of the other is a sure recipe for failure.

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I recently invited Matt Brooks and Rick Hampson of Apple Computer to the school district to present and lead a discussion about successful one to one implementations and what factors they see as influencing success. We had a very nice turnout (on a Monday night awaiting a snowstorm) of about 50 people, and there was a mix of teachers, parents, and school committee (school board) members. Matt and Rick did a really good job and met my expectations of talking about general guidelines, while also answering questions that were raised that were more specific to Apple and their products and services.

They began their presentation by advising us to think about our vision of student expectations – what did we hope to see as results of a one to one implementation?
They suggested we might want to see an increase in:

Collaboration
Engagement
Personalized Learning
Enriching experiences
Interactivity
Authentic tasks
Assignments with Global Impact (see challengebasedlearning.org for examples)

They shared the following list of characteristics of successful one to one implementations. I’m sure it is not an exhaustive list, but represents factors that they have observed. The description after each item is my own interpretation, and is not meant to represent Apple corporate advice.

Success Factors
Proper Planning of the Deployment
Planning covers a wide variety of topics, from infrastructure, bandwidth, density and connectivity to purchasing, insurance, policies, processes, guidelines, and

Community Involvement with a Shared Vision
Community involvement includes getting stakeholder buy-in early and working together on a shared vision.

Networking with other Schools
It is important to follow the trials of schools in your area and to learn from their implementation projects. Our Technology Advisory Committee is committed to reaching out to other schools to interview them about their implementations to inform our own planning.

Professional Development
Matt Brooks shared that he has read that teachers need 40 hours of quality professional development every year in order to make substantive change.

Developing an Active Internal Professional Learning Community (PLCs)
Professional Development is a critical component, and building and supporting PLCs is a particularly effective way to seed change.

Focusing on Student Capacity and Engagement
Challenge Based Learning
These items on the list return back to Matt and Rick’s opening comments about maintaining a focus on student engagement. From my perspective, this has to drive our planning and how we define success.

Constant Reflection and Assessment
As with all technology projects and initiatives, it is never “one and done.” Deploying one to one will be no different, and will require tweaking and adjusting as we go.

If you are planning a one-to-one deployment, I recommend bringing in several of your technology vendors to speak to the community. We are going to follow this up with asking teachers to present how they are currently using tablets and mobile computing with their students.

Are there other characteristics of successful deployments we should be paying attention to?

In this post, The 5 Essential Characteristics of a Project Manager, the traits listed as indispensable are:

•  A Good Sense of Organization
• Knows How to Get People Motivated
• Knows How to Communicate
• Can React to Changes
• Knows What to Do and What to Delegate

As I read the piece, I thought – “These are the characteristics I want in a Network Administrator.” And, then I decided they were things I want to see in Instructional Technology Specialists, and school principals, in myself, and…..so many others. Are these pretty universal traits for people leading any kind of department, organization, or effort?

Communicate about the big picture as well as the details.

Use your vision, stories, and your own trustworthiness to motivate others to follow you.

Be planful and organized in order support a propensity toward action.

Be flexible and ready to react to change.

Don’t try to do it all – delegate and resist the urge to micromanage.

Sounds like a good, general skill set to me!

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