Now What?

I'm not sure what the future holds, even after eight very forward-looking weeks, so I won't say that this is my last post for this blog. It is however, my last blog post for the class, Technology and Leadership, and an opportunity to sum up and make sense of the ways in which I have been affected.

As has been par for my experience in this program, learning has come not only from the instructor and materials, but so much from fellow students as well. I came to the course looking for support in implementing technology solutions towards effective 21st century teaching and learning, in my role as a secondary school principal. While, along the way, I did garner some of that, my ultimate takeaway is much larger: a realization of--and an early "coming to terms" with--the reality of our place in a time of profound and unprecedented societal revolution.

That we are inherently apt to form groups, and to function collectively, is not a new understanding. That advancing technology--the printing press, the telegraph, the telephone, cinema, the radio, television, computers, the internet--has progressively enhanced our ability to communicate and connect effectively and efficiently, is also not a particularly profound observation. But, as Shirky (2009) pointed out, and as we (collectively) explored in our shared blogs, the phenomenon of ubiquitous access, via mobile computing, to the internet (serving as an essential repository of the sum of recorded human learning, speculation, and creativity), and even more centrally, to one another, to form functional groups around any interest, purpose or goal, has ramifications that are profound indeed.

It is not so much that technology continues to advance in capacity according to Moore's Law, or that many aspects of our 21st century reality surpass what we imagined possible even two decades ago, as it is that through facile and constant access to the internet, more and more of us, globally, are simply and easily connected. Further, our connections--our comments, conversations, and choices--whether serious or trivial, picayune or profound are recorded and memorialized for posterity.

This changes everything.

I've been thinking about that a lot. I've tried to capture it with a variety of water metaphors (a flat lake, a tidal wave, a flood, a fast-flowing river). I have committed to making some changes in my approach to, and my relationship with, technology and social media. Collaboratively, we have raised a lot of big questions, rethinking, as Mike Wesch listed, copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, rhetoric, governance, privacy, commerce, love, family, and ourselves. I have not (nor have we, in any appreciable way, as a society) come up with answers--though, I/we certainly have discerned trends and directions.

Somehow, then, as a result of our exploration, our study, our conversation, and our reflection, I am not any more certain of anything. I am, however, more comfortable, and confident, within that uncertainty. So, the answer to the question in the title (A nod to the What? So What? Now What? reflection protocol, Borton, 1970), is, "I'm not sure, but that's OK!"

There is an apocryphally Chinese blessing/curse, "May you live in interesting times." Aren't we lucky, that we do?

While that last sentence had a nice final tagline feel, this closure post would be incomplete without the following: I would like to thank our instructor, Britt Watwood, for facilitating a journey that has been meaningful, worthwhile, very influential, and enjoyable. And, I would like to thank each of my colleagues here who have participated together--a significant example of the internet as a tool facilitating productive collaborations. Thanks, everybody.

Borton, T. (1970). Reach, touch and teach. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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

"You Better Start Swimmin' Or You'll Sink Like a Stone..."

The times they are a’changin.’  -Bob Dylan, 1964

The only constant in life is change.  -Heraclitus of Ephesus circa 500 BCE

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  -French proverb, epigram, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose “ credited to Jean-Baptiste Aphonse Karr, 1849

This triptych of aphorisms sprang sequentially to my mind as I began to contemplate leadership implications of technological change, after reviewing the week’s materials (see list below), and each rings true, in its way, when applied to the topic. There is no denying we are in a time of profound societal change. Though the pace has hastened significantly, even exponentially--and though that is significant--a state of change is, and periods of rapid change are, nothing new. And, though technology changes how we do things, and changes some of what we do, our defining traits and basic qualities as humans remain essentially constant.

Among the takes on, speculations about, and views of the future we examined, Shirky's (2009) epilogue stood out for me. It summed up not only Here Comes Everybody, but also many of my personal gleanings from the course. In it, he embraced my recurrent water metaphor (I promise I had not been reading ahead!) as he aptly likened leading amidst our current technology revolution to paddling a kayak, as contrasted with driving a car: no reverse, no brakes, no control of direction, and minimal control of speed, but, if you are adept and alert, the opportunity to make minute course adjustments, avoid obstacles, and, with a little luck avoid capsizing (and risking injury or drowning).

That image describes:

• Publish then filter replacing filter then publish,
• Empower and influence replacing command and control,
• Networked wirearchy replacing rigid hierarchy, 
• Increased transparency and customization replacing privacy, anonymity, and genericism, and
• Fundamental changes to basic societal structures we are only beginning to glimpse.

These inescapable and monumental changes present a mandate to adjust how leaders view, approach, and accomplish their task--and at their very heart, provide impetus towards increased openness, authenticity, humility, cooperation, and collaboration.

The ultimate implications for leading during this change remain formative and largely undefined. However, there is one that resonates with primacy and immediacy. How it is phrased depends on if you align with the 30% of people the Pew Research Internet Project survey found to view anticipated future changes negatively, believing we will be worse off as a result-- in which case it is, "BEWARE," or, if you align with the 59% who anticipate the changes will be positive, leading to improved quality of life on the whole--in which case you can add a letter: BE AWARE! (I suppose the remaining 11% are neutral; to them, we say, "take a stand!")

Personally, I choose optimism, albeit cautious optimism. I have been an early adopter or early majority adopter (Rogers, 2003) of computing and mobile computing innovations.  I had a Palm Pilot in 1998, for example, and today my iPad has completely and effectively replaced a paper notebook/planner in my day-to-day practice.  However,  I am certainly not diving head first into the deep end, without checking for obstacles (see, I can't shake this water thing...); there are still so many legal, ethical, and even simply pragmatic issues and puzzles that need to be worked out. That said, I am making a commitment to make some personal changes: to throw a little bit of my erstwhile caution to the wind, to trust a little more, online, to be come a little more comfortable with less privacy, to embrace social media a little more enthusiastically, and to make more connections. Do I think that is a good idea? Does that make me happy? Here's the thing: I don't believe it even matters, because that is like asking if would I rather drive my car in the river.

Some materials considered this week:

Wikipedia List of Emerging Technologies

NExTWORK:  Kevin Kelly Video

Corning's A Day Made of Glass 1 and A Day Made of Glass 2

Google Glass Project and Tech Crunch

KPCB Internet Trends Slideshare

References:

Rogers, E. (2003).  Diffusion of innovation (5th Ed).  New York:  Free Press.
Shirky, C. (2009).  Here comes everybody. New York:  Penguin Books.

"You Are Only Cheating Yourself"

I remember teachers in elementary, middle, and high school invoking the titular refrain, with reference to plagiarism, "wandering eyes" during exams, overt cheating (e.g., preparing crib sheets, getting answers from others who took the exam earlier), or, congregating before class to "collaborate," (e.g., "hey, what did you get for number 16?") on assignments.  I was the kid, for the most part, that other students wanted to cheat "from." I tended to trust my own answers more than those of my peers, and don't remember ever being tempted to "borrow" answers or work. Also, I seemed to have a strong sense of "justice" on that front, and found cheating simply wrong. I did not want a part of it.

Somewhere along the way I stopped being "that" kid--these days, my peers are far more likely to "have it right." I am reminded of that as I collaborate with colleagues, daily, and certainly when I read and comment on other blogs here in our shared Netvibes space.  While I count myself fortunate to rub virtual elbows with a high-powered group, and to learn from and with a fine group of colleagues, I still have no desire to pass someone else's work off as my own, or to have an assessment reflect anything other than my own learning and effort.

Interestingly, looking at current studies and statistics, as summarized, for example in a recent New York Times article by Richard Perez-Pena, fewer students these days--far fewer, in fact--feel the way I did, and do. By the definitions above, as expanded to include technology, the majority of students cheat--and feel ethically justified in doing so (as exemplified here, in Jessica Lahey's Atlantic article).

I think part of what is going on, as students are less clear about what even constitutes cheating, is that the new realities Shirky (2009) delineated in Here Comes Everybody (new definitions of journalism, authorship, and publication, for example) are driving us to re-examine some very basic societal ideas.

As Perez-Pena pointed out, "the Internet has changed attitudes, as a world of instant downloading, searching, cutting and pasting has loosened some ideas of ownership and authorship. An increased emphasis on having students work in teams may also have played a role." (Now, look at me, I just pasted that quote right in to my blog...) Long before the proliferation of the internet, ethicists realized that computers changed things in a big way. Whether they generated wholly new problems as Maner (1980, described in Bynum, 2011) held, or simply put a significant twist on extant issues, as Johnson (1985, also in Bynum, 2011) posited, a new and significantly different reality is defined by these new technologies.

It would be easy to stand on a soapbox, and say, "Kids these days...." Or, to lament the decay of all that is good, right, and just, in the shadow of the (media-driven?, corporate-influenced?, socialist?, fascist?, immoral?, fill-in-your-favorite-scapegoat?) internet, and see the statistics that show more and more high school and college students cheating, and feeling justified in doing so, as a sad and unfortunate reflection of our current zeitgeist, and a broader societal reality--in corporate activity, advertising, politics, government, and other realms--that rewards results (ends) irrespective of honesty, integrity, and ethics (means).

That does not negate a very basic truth, as treated eloquently and succinctly by blogger Michelle Blake, that ultimately, lying and cheating, societal examples notwithstanding, are simply inferior to truth and hard work.

So, I'm back to (stuck with?) my water, water everywhere theme: surfing a wave of innovation and change, navigating a flat, flooded plane of information and ideas, and wanting a good compass.  Here is where the value of some of the basic Ignatian ideals that undergird our Creighton program becomes apparent:  we are called to pragmatically embrace innovation, but to reflect intentionally and incessantly upon both end and means, and to grapple, individually and collectively, with definitions of social justice, the greater good, and the importance, dignity, and worth of the individual.  Maybe a 450-year-old compass still points a true course, after the sea change.

That being said, as an educator, I respond to the statistical proliferation of internet-based cheating among students with a set of questions rather than with judgments, lamentations, answers or prescriptions:

•  Are we giving the right kinds of assignments and tests?
• Are we testing the right things, in the right ways?
• Are we rewarding the right things, in the right ways?
• Can we design assignments that utilize and capitalize on the tremendous resources available to our students, and that make "cheating" impossible or irrelevant?
• Can we, and should we, "fight fire with fire," and use existing and developing technologies like turnitin.com, and biometric IDs for test takers (or time-tested practices like in-person, oral exams) to minimize opportunity to cheat?
• And, to reference the title, WHO is being cheated, and how?

Bynum, T. (2011).  Computer and information ethics.  In E. N. Zalta (Ed.) The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Spring 2011 ed.)  Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/ethics-computer/

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

A Tool For Good Or Bad

Today, in my school we rely on the internet in our daily operations, both instructional and managerial, to the degree that when access is interrupted there is an immediate and significant effect: while we do not grind to a complete halt, we absolutely find ourselves in "Plan B" mode--employing workarounds at best and postponing efforts at worst. That was not the case several years ago, but it is certainly the case now, as we have moved to take advantage of Internet based systems:

• Remotely hosted attendance, grades, discipline and health data in the student information management system. 
• Online curricular resources used interactively with students. 
• Google Docs for a wide variety of applications and collaborations. 
• Presentations such as Prezis. 
• Professional development and required trainings. 
• Webinars. 
• Government purchase card accounts and accountability processes. 
• Shopping and ordering resources and materials. 
• Collaborations with district support personnel and specialists, via email, Lync, (and the old fashioned telephone, as well). 

For many of these functions, there is no longer a non-internet alternative. Thus, it is sobering to think about the degree wo which we are dependent on reliable, fast, uninterrupted internet access. With respect to the tools, some work better, some less well, than their (non-networked, disconnected, analog) predecessors. for example, the student management system is notoriously slow to respond and update input, compared with earlier locally based systems.

In addition to providing a tremendous bank of global resources, ubiquitous internet access provides students and staff alike a source of distraction. Instead of being more efficient, effective, and productive, students (and staff) can chat and socialize surreptitiously, play games, shop, pursue personal email correspondence, and spend more time off task.

Shirky (2009) pointed out, the transactional cost of connecting and organizing in groups has plummeted, and thus latent groups have formed and continue to form--and that is true for all groups, whether they present a positive, negative, or neutral force. Students, and teachers in the organization, can connect, communicate and organize, to support each other in teaching and learning; they can also organize in ways that are self serving to subgroups, or that are caustic and detrimental to the function of the organization as a whole.

Ultimately, internet technology presents a tool. Just as a pencil can be used to create art or to deface it, internet access can be used towards furthering or diminishing individual as well as the greater good.

Our challenge as leaders is to find the way to consistently channel that use towards the good....





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