Connected educators may be the worst advocates for getting other educators to connect. Too often they are so enthusiastic at how, as well as how much they are learning through being connected, that they tend to overwhelm the uninitiated, inexperienced, and unconnected educator with a deluge of information that both intimidates and literally scares them to death. The connected, collaborative culture is so different from what these educators have learned and how they have practiced teaching for years. It is disruptive to say the least, and it requires a change in both attitude and practice, as well as a shift in priorities of time to be spent. None of this is easily accepted, unless there is to be a big pay-off. For some the pay-off will not be worth their change and sacrifice.
Routine is the enemy of innovation. Some people are comfortable with routine. They depend on routine to make life easier. It is far less work to continue doing the same old, same old, than to do something new. If it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it! Too often these routines are part of education. Too often these routines become a problem in education.
Some educators strive to make rules for conformity and compliance. Lessons are developed to control the learning in the classroom. Seats are arranged in rows to control the students. Student compliance becomes an unstated goal for the educator. Failure to comply may result in negative grades for students. This has been a routine established for many educators for many years. For too many, this is how they were taught, so this is how they will teach. This is in great part what makes them comfortable.
We would like to think that this does not represent the majority of educators, but any educator reading this post can probably envision several colleagues described here. Much of this is counter to what is advocated by many connected educators. Because of that, connected educators threaten the comfort levels, or status quo of many unconnected educators. The idea of getting those comfortable educators to connect becomes a hard sell.
Being a connected educator for a majority is an endorsement of personal learning. Connected educators participate and guide their personal learning to get from it that which they need, both personally, and professionally. Once an educator buys into that way of learning, and reaps the benefits in very profound ways, it changes his or her perspective on learning. Many become advocates for Personal Learning Networks and self-directed learning, not only for educators, but also for all learners. They open up to a more collaborative perspective in learning.
The problem with this is that many connected educators were early adopters with short memories. They forget that, for many, when they entered the realm of connected educators, their education philosophies were not as they are now. Many were transformed over time. This arises as a problem when they advocate to the non-connected. Their expectation is that this transformation, that took time for them, will happen more quickly for the new adopters. This may become an unspoken promise to the unconnected that is often broken. It takes time to understand the connected culture. It takes time to understand the concepts of connecting. One cannot expect to connect and within a week or two to be transformed. Many newly connected educators are discouraged when that implied promise and expectation is not met. They drop off and drop out of collaboration.
I think that if we, as educators, are to benefit through collaboration, especially the unprecedented collaboration afforded us through technology, then we have an obligation to mentor our fellow collaborators through their various stages of experience with the process. We need to encourage and instruct continuously, as we also learn and reap sources. The better our colleagues can understand and navigate the process, the more sources we will have to draw upon. As they become stronger, we become stronger. To be better-connected learners, we need to be better-connected educators. We need to have patience, but continue to persevere to connect our colleagues. We need to understand that the tens of thousands of individuals involved in this relatively new process are in varying stages of experience, and many need coaching. Some may even be overly experienced and jaded to the point of being unresponsive, or even intolerant of the needs the recently joined. They to may need reminders from time to time. The idea of collaborative learning is that we are all in this together, and together we are better and smarter than we are individually.
My Island View 
Well said. We cannot all jump over the same high jump bar as the Olympians. However, stepping over a root which is spanning the trail ahead IS a step forward.
Hi Tom-
I was going to write this same post last night, but I ran out of steam. I have been thinking a lot about this topic lately. I see people talk about how easy it is to tweet and/or connect with people on line. Yes–it is easy for those of us who have been doing it for a while or who have someone in our corner that is helping us out. But for countless others it is NOT easy. The mechanics of connecting is pretty simple and straightforward, but creating a personal learning network takes time, patience, and dedication. Just last week I got my principal on Twitter. He’s very smart and catches on quickly, but he has only sent four tweets. He is taking his time getting acclimated because it isn’t a priority for him yet. He doesn’t quite yet understand the value and it might be many months down the road before he gets it. I think this is the case with so many educators. They give Twitter a try, but they give up before they see the value in it. You, I, and everyone else who is connected can continue to share our stories about how fabulous it is to be connected and how it is like a family reunion when we see each other at different events during the year. To someone who isn’t connected these stories don’t mean anything. Most people who aren’t connected can’t wrap their mind around being closely connected to people who are complete strangers.
It takes a lot of time and a lot of support to stay connected. I think the trick is sticking with it long enough to experience an “a-ha” moment. Nearly everyone connected I know can tell you a precise moment when the light bulb lit up and they realized the power of being connected. For me it was during an exchange with Scott Floyd (@woscholar) in the fall of 2008 when he provided some very valuable insight to help us make a policy decision at my school.
It is very difficult at times to figure out how much coaching to provide. Some people want (and need) to be pushed a little while others would rather lurk and quietly figure things out on their own. If you are newly connected PLEASE don’t hesitate to reach out for support. We are a network and we are here to provide that support for each other!
Thanks for this article. At tuesday, Oct. 8th, the german #edchatde will discuss exactly this topic: How do I get more teachers to connect?
The questions are also translated in english, so everyone can participate.
We will start at 8pm (german time) at twitter. Just follow the Hashtag #edchatde
Awesome post! And so very true. I want my administrators to catch up with me and I’m probably not as patient as I should be. Continuous coaching is key! Thanks for this.
Well said, my friend!
Great to read this article. I had lunch with a group of educators that are not on Twitter. I also tried to spread the Twitter Connected Educator Month news after school to some members of a literacy group. You could hear crickets due to the silence until our principal said, “I have an account but I stopped using it due to my compulsive behavior.” He felt it was too much to tweet back to those who tweeted him. I asked him to try it again and this time just read the posts without tweeting. He smiled back at me and so did the others. I just want you to know I’m trying to get my faculty to be connected. It’s not easy.
I’m going to put a Twitter Poster up in our teacher’s lounge to see if I can get anyone to connect and attend the RSCON4. Wish me Lots of Luck!
When I have a sense that corporations or individuals profit from my connection, I am turned off. I will use the technology I choose and try to use open source as much as possible.
Elly,
“Profit from connection”
A good ‘deal’ might be defined by the perception that I have gotten more from a transaction than the vendor. While I am with you on the open source track, I don’t expect reluctant tweeters to suddenly rush to Diaspora* or StatusNet or PumpIO. The connected culture is in place on Twitter, and that’s part of the reason to promote it. If my comments give some profit to another real person, I think both of us have gotten a ‘deal’ while a vendor tries to figure out how to profit from tracking #edchat or any other trending educational topic.
[…] Connected educators may be the worst advocates for getting other educators to connect. Too often they are so enthusiastic at how, as well as how much they are learning through being connected, that they tend to overwhelm the uninitiated, inexperienced, and unconnected educator with a deluge of information that both intimidates and literally scares them to death. https://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/patience-for-the-unconnected/ […]
Thank you Tom. Timing is everything. I recently shared a post about balancing professional responsibilities with personal learning. http://goo.gl/HaPlVE
There are times when I find my PLN to be more supportive and engaging than my “in-person” PLTs. That said, it took three attempts over the course of a year before Twitter finally “clicked” for me. From what I hear, this is not uncommon, either that, or I am just admitting to being slow. It took me another year to get a better feel for blogging. And, of course, I am still learning! I can certainly appreciate your request to show patience when guiding others into the choppy waters of connected learning.
Thank you, Tom, as always for stretching my thinking!
I appreciate your recognition that folks new to social media will likely require lots of patience and encouragement to join and stay in the conversation. I have some issues with the labels we are using to frame this particular dialogue (connected vs. unconnected, initiated vs. uninitiated…), however. Too much to try to convey right here, I opted to write a full blog post instead: http://edifiedlistener.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/the-disconnect-amid-so-much-connection/
I agree, we are in this together and I would wish for more language to reflect that togetherness.
Sherri Spelic
[…] for the Unconnected tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/pat… […]
Well put! So much of the work in my industry (higher education publishing) is getting educators to adopt technology that we know makes a difference in student engagement and performance. We do our best to demonstrate this value, but it’s really fellow instructors and their experience with technology that’s the driving force in turning a reluctant professor into a connected one.
Wow. Perfect timing on this post.
I think it’s possible that there’s some subtext to this whole “connected” issue- that perhaps this is not about really being “connected” at all. It’s about risk.
I know from my own experience and from my colleagues- the frustration we connected educators feel trying to bring people over to our side. For many of the educators we try and convert, the fact is- what’s the real motivation for their conversion?
Connected educators realize that having connections- gives you freedom. It means that, by virtue of your connections, you can curate, hone, and find the culture that suits your personality. That’s probably 80% of the benefit. Of course- you learn along the journey. Freedom equals knowledge.
What person wouldn’t want that freedom? I used to think it was everyone.
But for some educators- I can see being connected as more of a curse.
What could possibly motivate a 20 year veteran teacher, whose only goal is to retire in 10 years and get summers off- to start sharing publicly and building their “personal brand?” (nod to Angela Maiers)
I can’t imagine very much. In fact- I could see where being connected could be considered a risk for these teachers. Why should they risk saying stuff in public on Twitter or Google Plus if they don’t plan on seeking freedom from the bubble that is their current position or district?
There are many factors at play here- and it’s not just having patience. The motivation to “get” connected- has to come from an inner drive. To sell people on the idea that the grass is greener- you have to show people the grass first, and that means you have to get them in front of the window.
I’m in the class of educators that thinks “all people can learn.” For every teacher- every person- there is going to be a switch that turns on that inner drive. However- some educators have that switch under lock and key so tightly- they don’t want to give in. Why risk breaking the bubble?
If you’re one of the educators that has a talent for finding other educators hidden inner drive- then that is a truly amazing educator.
For the connected- we see the entire world as our community. For the unconnected- many are simply happy to have any community- and the immediate one- works for them.
Why risk it?
[…] Connected educators may be the worst advocates for getting other educators to connect. Too often they are so enthusiastic at how, as well as how much they are learning through being connected, that… […]
Nice reflection. Sometimes our overenthusiasm overwhelms people around us.
[…] Patience for the Unconnected by Tom Whitby […]
I’ve learned to have patience with the brick-and-mortar educators in my life in this area, but I didn’t realize how intolerant I had become in the online arena. Today, I ran into an issue where an open community was averse to collaboration and sharing, and it really threw me for a loop…. I had an expectation that we were all connected educators interacting with a PLN. Not so. I’m growing in this area. I would just add that as MOOCs and other online PD opportunities grow that we are going to see more and more traditional attitudes within our connected culture. Thanks for the eloquent post and reminder!
There is such an unfortunately growing divide between people over so many ed initiatives, that it’s awful to remember that technology, that which is supposed to empower people and bring us together, is one of the things standing between us.
One thing I know about my own tech journey is that while so many people I know think I am deeply tech savvy, I have no idea what I’m doing with so many pieces of the ed tech world. I’m as imperfect with my tech facility as I am with all of my professional work. With that in mind, I hold myself to the same simple standard that I hold all educators with whom I work, which I’ll give as a quote from Henry Longfellow’s “Psalm of Life”: “…that each tomorrow finds us farther than today.” Essentially, if we’re all trying to improve, learning will work and school culture will be awesome.
I have endless patience for people who are willing to try, consider, experience, struggle come back a week later, and ask questions. When it comes to other things teachers do, like embed literacy, work with difficult students, and collaborate on curriculum and assessments I know that some will have strengths and others will struggle.
Where I struggle the most with my support and patience are with those who don’t engage, those who stand on traditions, those who don’t see learning as a requirement for being a teacher. Thanks for the post.
Your point of being overly enthusiastic about the connected culture hits home. If anyone needs to proceed with caution, it is me. The last thing I want to do is overwhelm others, but it can be hard not to because some of this stuff is so exciting that I want it to happen yesterday.
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[…] we must be the patient in getting all educators on board, but we must keep moving toward that goal. Patience for the Unconnected was a post I wrote for last year’s Connected Educators Month. My position on connected education […]