Apr 16 2008
Archive for April, 2008
Apr 15 2008
Fluffy thinking in the edtech community…a waste of energy and time
I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent chatter in the edublogsphere (made up word) about the “cocktail party” and “echo chamber” for writing and being read as part of this community. I think it’s time we shift our thinking. Rather than wasting time worrying whether the bloggerati (another made up word) are following what you have to say and the profound effect it is or is not having on the world at large, let’s focus on the the people we can truly make an impact with…the teachers and staff we deal with on a daily basis. Strategic planning and conceptual models are good for creating mission statements and visions but if they’re never followed up by operational discussions, implementation plans, and success reviews we’ve become nothing more than pointy-haired managers avoiding real responsibility and accountability for making a difference in education.
If you want something to write about of value, get away from the theory and “fluffy thinking” rampant in ed-tech and concentrate on the practical, tactical aspects of what can be done to deliver more value to the students and staff. Digital citizenship, immigrants vs. natives, and all the 30,000 foot discussions floating around the internet deliver little practical value to the students and staff members who are trying to make this stuff work day in and day out. If you want to be read write about something worth reading such as the successes you’ve had implementing certain technologies or better yet the challenges you encountered and how you overcame them.
Based on this I am stepping away from the theoretical discussions. I leave those to the experts. I’m a strategist with an eye for implementation and that’s where I’m focusing my time, my writing, and my blog from now on. As for the cocktail party…I’ll be down the street having a coffee at the diner.
Apr 09 2008
Toastmaster Table Topics - Practice in front of your self
Here’s an easy way to practice for your times in the table topics hot seat. While shaving in the morning, (or makeup time ladies) use that face time in the mirror to talk about a topic you heard about the day before. Two main benefits here. One - it’s dead time otherwise so it’s being put to good use now. Two - you can’t get hung up on your speaking appearance when your nose is up in the air and you’re shaving under your chin (or better yet using that little Frankenstein machine to curl eyelashes).
Every chance you get to practice a one minute speech on a topic is prepping you for your next table topic and ultimately making you a better general communicator since you’ll be able to say your piece without rambling on and on and on and on…
Apr 09 2008
Using Diigo for Blogging - Part 1
I’ve started using Diigo to generate more content for my blog. Here’s a basic diagram of how it’s working right now:
Once a bookmark is grabbed it can be sent through as a blog posting. It also shows up as part of my Diigo tag cloud and my Diigo bookmark tag roll. The blog editor is a little weak, but the overall solution is robust and easy to use.
