A Flowing River

Communicate, Collaborate!

A requirement for students graduating from eighth grade, as well as for ALL teachers, in Texas is knowledge of how to self-select appropriate productivity tools for the job. Now, however, we need to address the fact that students, teachers, librarians, AND administrators are expected to know how to do this. Consider this excerpt from the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology:

Develop strategies for all educators, including campus administrators and librarians, to master the Technology Applications Educator Standards I-V as access to technology and professional development becomes available.

And, it's not enough to just "develop strategies." Accountability is critical:

Document progress of teachers towards mastery of Technology Applications Educator Standards I-V using the Texas StaR Chart. Develop strategies to monitor and document progress of integration of technology into curricula and instruction and to monitor and report student mastery of the Technology Applications TEKS to TEA.

Often, new technology is seen as "toolishness" which is next to "foolishness." (referencing Jamie McKenzie's "Toolishness is foolishness" at http://www.fno.org). In truth, new technologies ARE changing the way we interact with each other...or at least, these new tools have the potential to do so. But, for those of us who might be considered in transition from the old to new ways of thinking, how do we know what tools to use?

It's not impossible to imagine that Texas educators need to move from the typical non-use of technology in schools for communication to granting staff the ability to communicate and collaborate. How would your classroom, your campus, your department change WITHOUT centralized command and control? And, if you already are decentralized, how are you using new communication technologies?

The typical large organization trains people exhaustively how to use technology tools, and then runs help desks for all the people who never took the training, or forgot it, or didn't understand it. But if you give people the authority (and trust) to use communication technologies without centralized command and control, you should also give them the responsibility to learn to use them effectively.
Source: How to Save the World

Consider the following chart as one example of selecting communication technologies.