This past weekend I attended an unconference in New York City called EdcampNYC. For those unfamiliar with the term, an unconference is a very informal conference of volunteer speakers talking in small groups about areas in which that they may have some expertise. It enables the classroom teacher to be exposed to other educators who may be doing things differently or employing different tools to help kids learn. These unconferences are beginning to spring up all over the country. Participants in each group have the ability to leave any session at any time and join another. The speakers are volunteers and the conference is Free.
I attended this unconference to volunteer what I have learned about developing and maintaining a Personal Learning Network, a PLN. I was a bit hesitant at first thinking to myself that this is a subject which has been beaten to death on Twitter and in Blogs, so why would anyone have an interest. I have come to realize however, that it is my very involvement in Twitter, Linkedin, Delicious, Diigo, Ning, Skype, Webinars, and all of the other components of my PLN that set me apart from a majority of educators, who are not involved with learning through technology. My connection with like-minded educators has insulated me from the fact that most educators are not so involved. I think it is safe to say that when it comes to 21st century skills, many educators don’t know what they don’t know. If technology skills for media literacy require more than just awareness, many of our educators would probably be considered illiterate.
Education, as an institution, seems, to me, to be quite conservative and not quickly accepting of change. The problem with that is that change today is profoundly affected by technology. Whereas, the institution of education limits change, technology turns it loose or even speeds it up exponentially. As a result, technology is creating tools for Information gathering, communication, collaboration, and creation at a much faster rate than the educators can absorb. The very skills educators strive to teach are not being utilized in ways that they were originally intended. Publishing is no longer a process of trying for acceptance from a publisher; it is instantaneous. Access to information is instantaneous and always at hand. Because of this fast paced media-frenzied society, we now have a greater need for reflection and critical thinking.
In this technologically based, information-driven society, how do educators keep pace with what they need to know? How do educators remain relevant? Do they even understand the need to do so? Is the professional development offered in schools meeting the need? Is it acceptable to teach using 19th Century methods with 20th Century tools to prepare kids for their 21st Century even after we have gobbled up that Century’s first decade?
I earned a Master’s degree in Educational Technology back in the late 80’s. Back then, I was a state-of-the-art educator. I did not however, work in a state-of-the-art-School. I did not have access to state-of-the-art tools. I did not have state-of-the-art colleagues. I did however have a belief in the concept of teaching with technology, and I searched for ways to do it. Back then it was all a matter of money and training, both difficult to come by. Today WEB2.0 tools are readily available and most are free or inexpensive. Training now comes in the form of free tutorials, webinars, or conferences delivered to a computer in an environment of choice. Usually, I choose my Den.
In a society that now goes to the internet to search for products, restaurants, celebrity news, weather, news, companionship, or any of the other hundreds of things we use it for; why not use it for information about our profession? What is holding Educators back? It is not a generational thing. Many educators that I connect with every day are in their 60’s as am I. It is not an intellectual thing many people, as clueless as I, have learned from technology. It is not an access thing. Libraries offer tech access to anyone. It’s not a device thing. More and more smart phones, Ipods or Ipads are available each day. They are connected computers. As a matter of fact mobile devices are the primary source for accessing the internet, surpassing desktop computers.
Educators need to get over their fears and give up on this resistance to technology. We need to support more unconferences and the movement that drives them. We need to teach Educators how to know what they don’t know, and learn it. We need them to buy into the concepts and adapt to the tools, for the tools will continually change and develop. We need to connect teachers through their own Personal Learning Networks using social media for professional Development. Collaboration outside of our classrooms will take us beyond our personal limitations and allow us to learn continually and globally. As an added advantage, we will also be able to take our students with us.
My Island View 
What would be great then is to see more unconferences within our regions, BOCES and school districts…so many people have expertise within districts but we have no time or ability to share…and sharing them virtually as well….just a thought!
I fully agree with your basic premise, that effective teachers are themselves constant learners. I also agree that the unconference approach has validity as a means of professional development. I think it was Fullen who said something like, “The best professional development is teachers talking to teachers about teaching.” That said, I don’t think a total dismissal of “traditional” approaches is wise. In my experience, hearing directly from noted experts has been and continues to be beneficial in my professional growth. Often the only opportunity for exposure to such individuals is through a traditional conference structure. All these elements—informal prof dev, formal prof dev, and tech-centric prof dev—can play a role in a teacher’s continued development, effectiveness, and relevance. You, sir, model this beautifully. I think many of us are influenced simply by your commitment to and continued pursuit of learning.
I wonder what role the new ed reformers will have in this effort to move educators into the 21 century literacies. What will 21st century high stakes tests look like?
Will all the excitement and adventure be stripped away from the fun kids have on the web to make it more “conventional and test-driven?
I think your post is filled with deep thinking and I’m with you (61), but I’ve been watching Michelle Rhee take up the Oprah challenge as warrior ed woman. What does that mean to the rest of us?
Bonnie
The unconference. Sounds so underground and grassroots. I love the idea of empowering ourselves to share and grow. Thank you!
Hi Tom,
well said, indeed. The most powerful line that sticks out to me is “that we don’t know what we don’t know.” So often this is the truth behind change, the unwillingness to engage it, and the surprise and delight upon discovery, when change then becomes the new status quo. There is a wonderful line in Men in Black, when Tommy Le Jones says to Will Smith, “a thousand years ago we knew the earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago we knew the earth was flat. and an hour ago you knew that human beings were the only inhabitants of this planet. Imagine what you won’t know tomorrow.” Human beings are in the habit of insulating themselves, it is a deep seated survival mechanism, since change often involves challenges to our very existence, today more social than physical, but real nonetheless. It is a natural human tendency, and change is counter-intuitive, always, even when we know things are broken.
As such I wonder if part of the many reasons we are so reluctant to change, to seek that which we don’t know, is a function of control and opportunity.
Control, in the sense, that new technologies challenge the status quo and take us out of our comfort zone, and make us embrace that which makes us squirm. At those moments we become subject to others, and in today’s hyper-vigilant, cost-containing, policy wielding, and assessment driven education environments, these are moments when we may be questioned, replaced, discredited, exemplified, relieved, and even terminated. The fear is real, the consequences are real, the control issue is real. Only in an environment which eliminates the fear of taking chances and stepping out of the box, can true innovative learning paradigms succeed. Eliminating that fear is a function of transparency and inter-accountability; taking the organization out of the information loop and creating total transparency between teachers and administrators, and making them accountable to eachother, not to departments, boards, or other abstract group structures. To support this, consider the small town, integrated, single schoolhouse – in very small communities, with total transparency, such problems are almost non-existant.In large complex community systems, such problems are rampant.
Opportunity, in so far as human beings are predictable in their search to return to the known, even if the known is inefficient, non-outcome bearing, and broken. Familiarity is seductive, and effective, in compromising change paradigms. To cite another movie, there is a wonderful scene in The Hunt for Red October, when Sean Connery announces that he sent the Russian Admiral a letter announcing their intention to defect; the crew looks at him in disbelief, and cries, “Why in heavens name did you do that?” Sean Connery replies, “When he reached the new world, Cortes burned his ships, and as a result his men were well motivated”. It is a lesson we have taken to heart at our school. When you introduce a new technology, you must torpedo the old technology; you must burn your ships, Cortes.
I think control, and securing the sustenance and maintenance of control for teachers while learning, and limiting the opportunity to “revert” to previous solution sets, are keys to why teachers are not embracing technology – and more accurately, the pace of technology development, as their own and making it the new standard for change.
There is much to be said for very small education communities and their outcomes, when it comes to implementing change.
As for teaching 21st century outcomes with 20th century tools and 19th century methods, well, I’m guessing you know what I think of that 😉
Rock on, Tom. Be the change.
Chris
Great points.
At the same time, good educators are in my experience among the very few who still appreciate to some extent the value of thinking the right way and aquiring the right practices and habits in each sphere of activity to gain expertise and solve problems in that area. Whereas the information technology approach is to simply provide access to more information and assume that people will be able to make good use of it as it is needed.
I hope as educators lose their fear of tech and adopt it effectively for faster, broader information gathering and learning they don’t go to the opposite extreme of giving up what they already do well, providing a way for students to acquire the right practices and expertise to think effectively in each reasonably well established domain.
My daughter, a senior in high school, is currently telling me that she doesn’t need to do any intensive research for her project, to look for books other structured information sources, the teacher just wants them to find online articles and take notes from them. I would be ok with that if the quality seemed high, but it is far, far below what my standards would have been as a senior. The credibility of the information seems very questionable and the depth very shallow, and that kind of evaluation doesn’t seem even part of her rubric.
My outsider (parent, lifelong student, technologist, non-educator) perspective.
kind regards,
Todd
I have to agree. We as educators—from teachers to administrators—have to become perpetual students who take the attitude that “we have never arrived at full competence” and that competence is found in being adaptability and experimentation based in reflection. I have always thought that good teachers and teaching is found by those always skirting the edges of innovation. The PLN, for me, is a tool that keeps me grounded in that place.
Tom,
Great post. I have always appreciated your insights into a field that I’m just getting into. You are one of the primary examples I use to encourage teachers to connect outside of our district.
One thing that I appreciate the most about PD through PLNs is the fact that it is voluntary. I can spend as little or as much time as I want learning. To add to that, I can really specialize what I’m learning about by concentrating on specific topics.
Just my two cents.
You may many valid points in your post Tom. Unfortunately education is not Star Trek where “resistance if futile.” Resistance works all too well in our educational system. I don’t want to get into motivational theory but unless teachers see some NET upside to their technological efforts, most will not be willing to put forth the effort. The reason NET is capitalized is that although the “revenue” is obvious by integrating technology, the “expense” is far too great for most educators. My belief is that to be successful in tech you must incorporate it into your daily life. I think all educators should be on Facebook, Twitter and the like. Not to necessarily participate at first, but to evaluate. Finally, I have always believed that learning involves setting a great foundation. Like it or not, part of a great tech foundation is understanding the “mundane” parts of tech that allow you to accomplish greater things within the area–just like ALL subjects!
Tom,
I appreciate your perspectives and share a lot of your feelings. Today, in fact, I was at a professional development session with other principals in our area, and, just like last month, I was astounded by the fact that there was no mention of professional networking. Last month I chatted enough about Twitter and the connections I’ve made and learning that’s benefited my practice that they let me present more about it on Day 2. Today, the facilitator suggested we list resources we all want to share on the front whiteboard. Within ten minutes I made a Google doc to share with the class and emailed the link to everyone. Why, in the world, would we list resources on a whiteboard we can’t take with us? It is unsettling to me that our frame of mind (constant sharing, collaboration, etc.) is not one that is shared by my colleagues. Thanks for reminding me of the importance of sharing what I’ve learned, and what we do, with other administrators.
Unconference it is. We alone can do for ourselves what needs to be done.
Great post, comments are also interesting to read. Although near retirement, I also began blogging, and using Twitter mostly to help me think things through, partly to help others w/tech. I am still learning and constructing my own learning path. What Papert described as something we should do for students, I decided to join in.
Thats so true, i feel that i am improving through my PLN and sharing things online , with closed heads all this isnt possible in todays world of technology which is multiplying by each passing hr
Tom: Your points are all well taken. I suspect you know the real problem. The typical teacher shows up and is faced with the grind of dealing with 20 or more students for 5+ hours a day. It is a very intense experience, which routinely features students who come to school with issues that cause bad behavior or inattention. The system also tends to pile on additional responsibilities without taking others away. Somehow we need to show teachers incrementally, how technology can make their work easier and more fun. As it is, technology introduction often makes their work look more complicated. Each school needs leaders in the administrative and teacher core to make it happen. Try to avoid things that look like only “smart” people can do them. The leading edge innovators are not people that most teachers think they can follow. Get some teachers with ordinary skills who are respected by others to learn something new with technology, and it has a chance to reach a local tipping point.
Keep up the good work.
Douglas W. Green, EdD
This is a really great post Tom.
As a strong advocate for edtech and a person who is blogging/tweeting and generally building my PLN online, it can often feel like I am not doing enough to move the profession forward. After all, when you have access to reading blogs from some of the most forward-thinking individuals on the planet with regard to edtech reform, it is hard not to feel like you’re falling behing. Having said that, you are good to note that MOST educators don’t even utilize a PLN!
Just being teachers who is willing to join into these conversations makes us leaders, because the reality is that education is VERY traditional and still has a long way to grow.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
[…] that means. There is faith that through blogging, Facebook, or Twitter, students can learn more, teachers can become better professionals, and we can accomplish true “education reform,” as opposed to the model being put forth […]
Well said. I understand these struggles as an educator, but brick by brick the walls of resistance to change are crumbling. We can also give our colleagues who are slow to respond a little nudge. Once they get a feel of the wonderful world of technology and collaboration they’ll pick up speed.
AMEN! I am currently a Special Education teacher living in rural North Dakota, literally on a ranch. I am nearing the end of obtaining my master’s degree online through a state college. People find it profoundly odd that I sit at home and soak myself in the knowledge that is at my fingertips. They do not understand the amount of time I spend, what they think is research, continuing to just learn! I am so thankful to be able to complete my coursework online, as I find our online collaboration is much more beneficial than me traveling hours to sit in a class. I am able to access the coursework in the luxury of my own home, in my sweats with coffee/tea and whatever else right at hand. I have tried to integrate the fabulous things I have obtained through twitter, Google reader and yes…omg…Facebook. The kids soak it up and the teacher’s poo it off. We are stuck in a transitional rut. Unconferences sound amazing; I would love to attend one day.
Thank you, once again, for this lovely post.
I am just catching up on EdCamp NYC posts that I did not read right after the conference. You are right in that sometimes we feel we have nothing to add, but then we arrive at a conference like this and get to share what we know with people who are new to the information. I’m glad you came out to NYC. I’m glad I stopped by to read your thoughts and those in the comments.
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