Last Week, Rivers; This Week, a Tidal Wave: What's With the Water Metaphors?

It's not just a new wave--it's a tidal wave!

Dr. Watwood warned, in his opening video post, that this course could be "transformational."  I have to confess, from interacting with the course materials, reflecting on them, and conversing both here in our class-related blogs, and with colleagues in my own non-virtual context (that I've heard referenced, in cyber-parlance, as "meatspace,") about them, I have had some of my basic, foundational assumptions tested.  It's not that I was unaware of, or unenthusiastic about, the tremendous opportunities (and challenges, and threats) that evolving technologies have brought and continue to bring, to my field of education and to the world at large.  It is more that I have just not taken the time to intentionally pause, until now, and deeply and carefully consider their awesome scope.

Over the past couple of years, I have spent considerable time reflecting on the structures, functions, and relationships that comprise my current (large, established, essentially hierarchical, admittedly bureaucratic, nobly purposed, rapidly changing) organization.  I have come to a deeper understanding, over the past couple of weeks, that the specific challenges we have been encountering and experiencing are not at all unique to our organization, or even to the institution of education. Instead, they are driven by a much bigger societal change tied to an internet-related communications revolution. The combination of ubiquitous access to information, and ubiquitous access to one another, globally, ushers a foundational change in the way in which humans interact with one another that is patently unprecedented  in scope.  As Shirky (2009) pointed out, the  resultant means, not only for collaborative production, but for collective action (choose your word, here, depending on your disposition and outlook: promises / threatens) to fundamentally redefine our organizations, our institutions, and our society at large.  "Social architect" Jon Husband described this phenomenon as the ascendance of "wirearchy," with a "champion and challenge" leadership dynamic, as it supplants our familiar Industrial Age hierarchical "command and control" dynamic.

This week, I am encouraged.  I am awed, and a little bit frightened, and daunted, but on the whole encouraged.  These big ideas reinforce the thinking and teaching of 21st century education thought leaders like Sir Ken Robinson, and Tony Wagner (both of whose messages have resonated with, and influenced me), and the leadership implications align favorably with my own leadership biases, preferences, and style.  Maybe, just maybe, I have something to offer in this fundamentally different future.

It's not that change is coming; it's here.  As individuals, and as organizations, we are faced not so much with a choice of whether to embrace or resist, like or dislike.  I see it more like a tidal wave:  we can let it crash on us, or we can figure out how to surf it.

Fellow educators, and those in other fields, I invite you to help expand this list, as we all think about that.

Strengths/Opportunities:  connectivity, access to curriculum, access, in fact to all kinds and all levels of information, ability to team and collaborate (as teachers, but more importantly as students) globally, access to experts, ability to own/self-pace learning, ability to publish, to create an authentic product...

Weaknesses/Threats:  connectivity (to the wrong things, and the wrong people...), privacy and safety concerns, loss of attention to human, non-virtual interaction (I'm thinking of a recent trip to a fast food restaurant where I saw four teenage students sit down in a booth together, pull out smart phones, and begin interacting--with their devices, not with one another, and it went on like that), information overload stemming from an inability to effectively filter, uncharted copyright, intellectual property, licensing and distribution issues...

Shirky, C. (2009). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: Penguin.

Navigating the Flood

revolution

Clay Shirky (2009, Chap. 4) said, "We are living in the middle of the largest increase in expressive capability in the history of the human race," in a revolution in communications tools that eclipses previous revolutions (e.g., the printing press, the telephone, recorded media, radio, television). Further, he posited that increasingly ubiquitous access to internet social media, especially mobile social media, that turns "the former audience" into publishers, and then communities, is spurring a profound, unprecedented restructuring of society itself.

unfiltered

I carry in my pocket right now (it's an iPhone 4 and I'm still trying to figure out why young people keep telling me that it's an OLD device...) access to essentially the sum wisdom, knowledge and understanding of humankind. Also to the flotsam and jetsam of idle adolescent conversation from six years ago. Also contradictory, offensive vitriol on multiple sides of every issue, past, present and speculative. Also fiction parading as fact, and fact that seems fiction. And what's more, I can contribute to the fray--instantly and effortlessly--unfiltered. Just like everyone else. Shirky described this phenomenon as the change from "filter, then publish," the old order, to "publish, then filter," the new order.

not the sage on the stage

As an educator, I find the implications profound, though, I think a little reflection will lead anyone, in any industry or walk of life, to similar conclusions. The sea change, for education, is that dispensing knowledge or information is no longer relevant (see sentence one of paragraph two, above). Filtering, teaching and learning how to critically filter, the information--the fact from fiction, the authoritative from the seemingly authoritative, the credible from the incredible, the appropriate from the inappropriate, the meaningful from the meaningless--becomes primary, and a prerequisite to then critically thinking about, synthesizing, making meaning of, and positively contributing to that information and knowledge.

the ocean is flat

In the old order, information flowed as if in rivers--contained in manageable channels, kept from flooding or drying up by a system of content producers, publishers, editors that acted as dams, and following a predictable and understandable, if limited, course. Ubiquitous access, and "publish then filter" has flooded those rivers and created an undifferentiated ocean of information--another kind of flat world.

Indeed, a restructuring. Without a river to follow, I'm going to need a good compass (or GPS, to be more technologically apropos), to find where I'm headed, and to keep from going in circles. And, you know what? We are all in the same boat.

So my question for the week: what is that compass? 

implications for educational leadership

As a school leader, as well, my responsibility increasingly expands beyond dissemination of information and knowledge to the management of information (accurate or not) disseminated by others--students, teachers, parents, and community members. In my own career, web tools (we have only just begun calling them that) like Facebook, Twitter, and similar services have evolved from being distractions to be policed, to being viable and vital channels of communication and forums for community. This year, our tech system has lifted the block for Facebook access, and instead encouraged an official presence. As Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson points out in a recent blog post (which I discovered when a colleague posted it to Facebook), embracing mobile computing and social media is a vital step for 21st century schools.

Shirky, C. (2009). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: Penguin.

The Rath of Khan ?

Excuse the title.  We were charged with creating an interesting one, that "grabs."  I may well have missed the mark, but, as a self-confessed Star Trek fan, (and, as technology moves us, perhaps, toward a world that embodies Roddenberry's positive and hopeful ideals), that 1982 movie title (The Wrath of Khan) kept running through my mind this week, and I constructed the precarious metaphor of a chariot (a rath is a ceremonial Indian chariot) representing a flipped mastery approach and Khan Academy (and similar other platforms) whisking the learner, previously walking, ahead at a faster pace.

A free, world class education for anyone, anywhere.  

That is Khan Academy's audacious mission statement.  Salman Khan is a really smart guy, with three degrees from MIT and one from Harvard, who also happens to be personable, engaging, and remarkably good at breaking down and explaining things.  What began in 2006 with Mr. Khan interactively tutoring his cousin using Yahoo Doodlepad (an instant-messenger sketch pad, now outdated by other technologies), has evolved into a multimillion dollar nonprofit (is that an oxymoron?) that has delivered over 300,000,000 lessons.  The history and evolution is an interesting and inspirational story, synopsized aptly in Wikipedia as well as on the organization's own website, and covered by major media like CBS's 60 Minutes.

A quick way to get a good understanding of the tool, its creator, its evolution and its potential, is to watch Salman Khan's 2011 TED talk:

Even with use of hyperlinks (as is an asset and liability of this kind of forum), to broaden my reach, the primary challenge I felt preparing this week's post was paring down the issues and implications that sprang to mind, treating any one of which in an adequate fashion would exceed a reasonable word limit.  For example:

• The changing role of teacher ("not the sage on the stage but the guide at the side") in the 21st century, and the proliferation of a flipped mastery approach in classrooms worldwide.

• Broad, easy access to a wide variety of curricula as a "world flattening" phenomenon, and the eventual, if not immediate impact on the institution of education itself (not only K-12, but higher education, and especially with respect to cost/value of tuition).

• Cautions about concluding too much, too quickly--for example as in a balanced but cautious treatment, here:  http://esheninger.blogspot.com/2012/04/khan-academy-friend-of-foe.html, in another principal's blog (notably, one published for his expertise in leadership and technology).  Also, here, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-keith-devlin/khan-academy-good-bad-or-_b_1345925.html from a Stanford mathematician, and here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/29/parody-video-made-by-two-_n_1638460.html from a couple of middle school teachers.

So instead, I offer them as questions, and I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below, to the degree you are ready to engage in conversation.

I can offer a couple of personal experiences:  I have enthusiastically used the site (and the mobile iPad app as well) as a review of statistics concepts as I head into my dissertation, and earlier as I was preparing for the GRE as a general mathematics refresher:  I found the lessons to be helpful in just the ways and for just the reasons Khan references in his description in the TED talk.  My youngest son (age 11) has found similar success, though has required the adult guidance of my wife, who leads him through the "learning universe," and works with him.  Both commented that they enjoy the lessons, but also mentioned difficulties with  navigation between lessons, and with appropriately choosing "what's next."  My oldest son (17) is currently taking a second year calculus course via distance learning, and reports that the instructor has discouraged using Khan Academy (instead providing internal content--some self-produced and some selected from other sources), saying the Khan lessons sometimes used the "wrong terminology," for example.  Finally, while not using Khan's videos specifically, but with teachers creating their own in a similar vein, our district has been implementing a flipped mastery approach in some of our math classrooms--it is not a panacea, but I do see it as a very positive and successful development that empowers students.  I fully expect to see gains in math achievement as a direct result.

If you are pressed for time, I would encourage you to skip the hyperlinks, but do take time to watch the embedded video, and take a quick visit to the site itself, and choose and view a lesson that piques your interest, to get a good understanding of this tool's potential--both the potential presently being realized, and potential into the future.  Is it revolutionary?  I think in many ways it is.  Certainly, it is PART of a revolution.  Is it a great resource?  I think, inarguably, yes.  

What a Wonderful (Flat, Spiky) World...

I read Friedman's (2005) bestseller,  The World Is Flat,  or at least, I read most of it, a few years ago; though, I just reviewed the synopsis as assigned for this course.  His stories are vivid and compelling, and his conclusions and speculations are notable and convincing.

I read Florida's (2005) converse inclination, his Atlantic Monthly article, The World Is Spiky, this week for the first time.  His data is compelling, and his conclusions and speculations are notable and convincing.  (Wait, didn't I just say that?)

While searching for URLs for the links above, I also noticed numerous posted comparisons of the two titles:  they do invite comparison and analysis, don't they?  Well, here is my take.

They are both right.

When Friedman asserted, "the world is flat," he referenced the incredible leveling power exerted by the Internet today.  Incidentally, that's also what Shirky (2009) talked about in his TED talk about social media in the world today.  We can all be producers of media as well as consumers.  We can all be collaborators.  We can all be outsourcers; we can all be contractors providing services.  Globalization in the information age represents a flattening--a leveling of access.  The world is flat and getting flatter.

When Florida said, "the world is spiky," he backed his assertion with statistical data that showed concentrations of light energy, of patents, of population, and of scientific citations as spikes--indicating disparity of distribution.  Access to resources is not evenly distributed, after all, in practice.  Activity, productivity, and creativity stack in clusters.  The chart that is missing, and the one that I think would be the spikiest of all, is one charting distribution of individual wealth.  Wealth equates to many kinds of advantage, but certainly to the advantage of access to resources--and the ability to exploit and further profit from those resources.  This disparity continues to increase  in the US and globally.  By almost any measure, the world is spiky and getting spikier.

The reality that both statements are true is not so much a paradox as an example of another evolution that social connectivity and ready information access (e.g.,the Internet) has brought:  the supplanting of either/or thinking with "plus/and" thinking.  Thus:

The world is flat AND spiky.  Both ideas are valid. Hagel (2012) agreed, and said the next thing is connecting the spikes.  (That links to an interesting article that references both Friedman and Florida, and extends the ideas.)

I think similarly, in a way.  Optimist that I am, I feel hopeful and confident that the power of connectedness that comes with increasingly ubiquitous access to knowledge, information, and each other (flatness) will empower a leveling of disparities and inequalities (spikiness) towards social justice and the overall greater good.

Welcome

This is a first post, and simply a test post.
It will get better, I promise.  How much better, I'm not sure yet.