Chapter 6

Well, surprise, surprise! A Google search on “school administrators and web 2.” returned over 311,000 hits – some of them really good. I have read and listened to several good speakers and writers this evening who have ideas that should speak to everyone who is interested in quality education for all.

My favorite regarding Web 2.0 was by the author of Moving at the Speed of Creativity, Wesley Fryer. I listened to the podcast of a speech he gave to superintendents of Education in Oklahoma. In essence he said, “quit whining and do something.” (He actually may have said those words, I can’t remember.)

He said as leaders of their respective school systems they should be opening doors for teachers and students. My feeling is that the unspoken words here are, “as opposed to closing them.” He also exhorted them to help their teachers relinquish control of the current teacher role and move to the Web 2.0 model of teacher as collaborator. Additionally, he said their role is to help teachers take reasoned risks that are in the best interests of kids.

He discussed the Celebrate Oklahoma Voices project, a digital storytelling project that captured the stores of World War II veterans in Oklahoma. He talked of the Floydada, Oklahoma, school system that gives a laptop to each child. He told a story about a child who moved from that district to another and went to get his laptop and was surprised and disappointed to find that his new school didn’t do that.

He suggested to administrators that an effective voice for advocating for these resources may be the youth who interviews an older adult to get his story. The interviewer and interviewee respond to the story and both become advocates for new technology and technology reform.

He told them that Phillip Schlechty in his book Working on the Work said to affect education changes, we must either “work on teachers, work on students or work on the work.” His premise was that teachers and students are already saturated so we need to figure out how to make the work more productive – a prime Web 2.0 philosophy – it’s no longer about how much you teach, but how you teach.

Administrators need to get creative, work together and create the future.

In his final remarks he quoted Dr. Alan Kay. “Most people try to predict the future by preventing it. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/06/podcast236-lets-invent-the-future-a-presentation-for-oklahoma-superintendents/

I was amazed at the number of sites and articles that were dedicated to helping administrators use Web 2.0 (or at least understand it). I particularly remember this article because it was in a newsletter specifically for administrators and advocated for Web 2.0 use, but for video streaming gave YouTube as the only example and for social networking cited MySpace. I can’t think of more inflammatory sites than those to use as examples, especially for administrators. No alternate sites were mentioned as possibilities. I also think for man administrators always using the term the Read/Write web in conjunction with Web 2.0 would be beneficial. http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=9334&snItemNumber=950

This site, http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=52461;_hbguid=e129f77b-8eca-4a0b-8642-bc62ada5b7f9, reinforced the goal of tech-savvy superintendents by providing the names of the 2008 top tech savvy superintendents. These educators embodied the use technology, ensured that resources were distributed fairly to both teachers and students, and thought strategically on how to continue these opportunities (among other qualities).

One of the questions that seemed to resonate with everyone was – how do we get legislators, school boards and other elected officials to actually pay attention to what works instead of standardized tests. There were several blogs about the most effective ways to communicate with legislators and there wasn’t a lot of agreement.

Just this past weekend, Wesley Fryer made a videocast appeal to his school board (Edmond, Oklahoma) because of their lack of vision regarding Web 2.0 applications and use. He feels that since they got an award for their tech programs a couple of years ago, that they’re satisfied and not looking forward. (If you think about it, 2 years in computer terms is how many people years?) http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/07/06/a-message-for-my-school-board/

My very favorite link was not so much about Web 2.0, but about transforming our education system by helping kids to be creative. Sir Ken Robinson defines this as “the process of having original ideas that have value.” The video is from the Apple Education Leadership Summit 2008. http://www.edutopia.org/sir-ken-robinson-creativity-video

Here’s another link to an article by him which I found equally fascinating and entertaining. http://www.edutopia.org/take-chance-let-them-dance My kind of humor.

I like university professors, but we shouldn't hold them up as the exemplars of all human achievement. They're just a form of life. But they're rather curious, and I say this out of affection for them. Typically, they live in their heads. They live up there, and slightly to one side. They're disembodied, in a kind of literal way. They look on their body as a form of transport for their heads. It's a way of getting their head to meetings.

Finally, I lost track of who said the following, but the point to administration was to “go global” and find a worthy mentor.

Who are your Yodas?