Change is Hard - Thoughts on our switch to Gmail

We are in the process of switching our email provider from FirstClass to Google Apps for Education. I am excited about the switch and feel that we will be gaining a great deal by moving to Gmail. However, I do acknowledge that we are also loosing some features (conferences and history to name a few) and that from many user perspectives FirstClass works just fine. Here is part of the email that I sent out to our community. (Thanks to my Twitter network for helping me with this list!)

We believe that Gmail is the best email client for Belmont Hill as an organization. Here are a few of the benefits that Gmail offers:

• More Space - Share and store large files, emails are saved forever.
• Collaboration Tools - Collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
• Personal Calendar - One calendar to rule them all.
• Web Based - Get your email easily anywhere you have web access. No client to install.
• Easy to use - Same interface as regular Gmail, similar to other web based emails (Yahoo, Hotmail).
• Searchable - No need for folders, search your mail as you would search the web.
• Portable - Get your email on your mobile phone.
• Spam Filtering - Built in spam filter catches most unwanted solicitations.

We are excited about this switch, but also recognize that change can be difficult. We ask in advance for your patience and understanding as we embark on this new adventure. We will do everything we can to help make this transition successful.

I started training on Friday and will be training all next week. It has been interesting to see the way different people have responded to the change. Some people are very fearful, some are excited, some are angry, some are anxious, but willing to give it their best.

I wonder if this would be the response to any type of change, or if technological change is more difficult in education?

I wonder what it is like in the business world when these types of technology infrastructure changes take place. Do businesses provide training and information and hand holding? Or are employees just expected to suck it up and deal with it?

If we just expected our teachers to figure it out and deal with it, would they?

What do you think?

Image Source: Mail Box http://www.flickr.com/photos/zizzy/267403889/ from the Flickr photostream of zizzybaloobah

Why spend so much time on this stuff?

I am often asked why I spend so much time on this learning network stuff. In her post, Starting Your Learning Network, Christine Hollingsworth does a brilliant job of answering the question.

"For me, I just can't stop learning. It's what is recharging me professionally right now. Connecting with people from outside of family and consumer sciences and career education has allowed me to consider a variety of perspectives in a non-threatening way. More than once I've read someone's blog post, Twitter message, or listened to a podcast that has challenged my thinking. This is a good thing for someone who has been in education for over 20 years now. Maybe it will be a good thing for you, too."

Thanks so much Christine for saying it so well! I feel exactly the same way. I am hungry to learn and my PLN helps me to do that. The more I learn, the hungrier I am for more. It is a good thing that learning is completely calorie free!

Image Source: The Passage of Time from ToniVC's photostream on Flickr

Technology To The Rescue

Check out this amazing story of how Rye Country Day School used technology to keep them going while they were closed due to a case of the H1N1 virus. Fred Bartels shares how a Ning he set up for his school took on a life of its own during the closure.


Here is a summary of what happened (written by Fred).

We had an interesting experience with a forced closure this week related to possible H1N1 cases. The closing was initially announced as being for two weeks, but after one day being closed, new CDC recommendations allowed us to reopen. (All our students with the flu are doing well.)

For most of one day, we all thought we would be closed for two weeks, so we started to quickly ramp up possible solutions for keeping courses moving forward. ...As luck would have it, we had created a school Ning a few days before the closure. We viewed it as just an additional communication/collaboration tool should we ever happen to be forced to close. The Ning was basically a shell with only three members. I sent out an email to faculty about 8 pm on the evening of the closure annoucement, letting them know about the ning site, and suggesting that for some things -like discussions- the ning might be a good optional resource. By 4 pm the following day the Ning site had over 200 members, 30 course groups, and a very rapidly developing sense of community.

I think this is a great story of turning adversity into a learning opportunity. Fred's Ning had a true pedogogical purpose and thus it thrived. I think that is the key to most technology successes. As Chris Lehmann

says, "Effective technology is like oxygen, ubiquitous, necessary and invisible." I will be interested to learn how the ning continues to function now that school is back in session.

To learn more, check out the ISEnet ning, where Fred shared his experience as the day unfolded

Image source: Helicopter Rescue Training from koert michiels' photostream on Flickr

Your Barista is on Twitter!

As you probably know, if you read my blog, I am a huge proponent of the educational value of Twitter. Lately, the excessive and often uninformed news coverage of Twitter is starting to get to me. Last Sunday's New York Times Magazine article, The Chatty Classes, just pushed me over the edge.

Matt Bai, who is not himself on Twitter, writes:

"The capital might be a better place if it became a Twitter-free zone, a city where people spent more time talking to the guy serving the coffee and less time informing the world that the coffee had, in fact, been served."

What people don't get is that Twitter is as much about listening, as it is about talking. We may not want to know how our politicians take their coffee, but it might help them to know if their constituents can't afford to buy a cup. Twitter is a tool with the potential to allow our representatives to plug in to the needs, thoughts, ideas and suggestions of their constituents - many of whom are in fact serving them coffee. Arggh!

OK rant over. Thanks for listening!
P.S. You can follow @Starbucks on Twitter



Image Source: Mosaic from Pedrovisky's photo stream on Flickr.

Prioritizing the Personal in PLN: Learning to be "Self-ish"

Last week I had my first ever speaking gig at the New and Emerging Technologies Conference at Noble & Greenough school. Tom Daccord and I shared the podium and talked about Building a Personal Learning Network. I have presented many workshops, but this was the first time I have ever spoken in front of a large audience. I was nervous and excited. I had a great time and I think it went pretty well. I thank Tom for asking me. He is very easy to work with and I feel like we shared the stage well.

The theme of my portion of the talk was the personal in PLN. I believe that we need to nurture our own personal learning as much as we nurture our students'. Rather than seeing this as selfish, we need to make more of an effort to be "self-ish" (imagine me saying this word with a slight New York accent ;).

If, god forbid, your plane were about to crash, they always tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first. It is impossible to help others if you are suffocating. We all need oxygen and our students can't benefit from our wisdom if we aren't constantly growing. So don't blow it off, breath it in!

David Warlick was the keynote speaker at the conference. I have met him a few times and he is such an interesting, inspirational and generous man. I appreciated his talk, "We need to stop integrating technology and start integrating literacy!" He also took the time to give me feedback on my talk and send me some of the pictures he took. Thanks David!

I recorded our talk and put the audio together with the slides. The audio isn't great, and the slides are a little bit cut off, but here is the link if you want to listen. My section starts at about 25 minutes in. Enjoy.

Click To Play

Two For Tuesday 4/14/09

1. The 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos
Thanks to Alec Couros for sharing this one! Not only does this website list what they consider to be the top 100 Internet videos of all time, they also give you the history behind each clip. "These are the clips that are etched into our memories, made us laugh, influenced the future of internet video, or changed it altogether."

2. FamDing - A Private Social Network for your Family
FamDing allows you to create a private social network just for your family. You can share messages, photos and important dates. You can keep track of birthdays and create a centralized address book. You can even hold a 4 person video conference.

A Twitter Love Story

This analogy came to me last night and I couldn't resist telling the story. It is meant as a joke, but isn't there a little bit of truth to all jokes. Do you see yourself in Suzie's story? I have to admit that I do. Enjoy.

The following is a dramatization - names have been changed to protect the innocent.


Suzie remembers when she first met Twitter. Everyone told her she had to go out with him, he was perfect for her. Suzie was skeptical, but she agreed to go on one date. They met for coffee, they talked a little, but there were no sparks. Suzie went home not sure what everyone talking about. She went on with her life and didn't see Twitter again for quite a while.

A few months later at a party, Suzie saw Twitter across the room. He was surrounded by people. They were all talking to him, fawning over him. She still didn't get what the big deal was, but she decided to walk over and say hello. Twitter remembered her from their date and she and T started talking. They had a decent conversation. At the end of the party T asked Suzie for another date, and Suzie agreed to meet him.

T and Suzie met at a nice restaurant, it was busy, but not too loud. They started talking and Suzie found not only was T really easy to talk to, he was also a good listener. On their second date Suzie started to open up to T, she started to share a bit more of her self. She asked questions and was surprised to find T pretty knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects. Suzie could feel herself falling for him, but she still kept her heart in check.

Over time, Suzie fell deeper and deeper. After several dates, long conversations, and an occasional time when T pulled her out of a jam, she was hooked. Suzie was in love. She was infatuated. She became a bit obsessed. She checked in with T all the time, from her phone, from work, from home. She couldn't wait to see what T had to say. Did he leave her a special message? Did he have the answer to something she just couldn't figure out?

She was in love, but it was also affecting her other friendships. Her friends just didn't get why she was so in to him. She tried to explain, but they teased her about him. A few of her friends took the time to get know him, many didn't. Suzie was ok with that.

More time passed and Suzie fell in to a comfortable relationship with Twitter. She learned how to get the most out of her time with him. She began to feel she could trust him, to know that he would be there for her if she needed him. The intensity of her feelings subsided and a feeling of calm took its place.

Today Suzie and Twitter are still together. Their relationship has deepened and grown. She enjoys her time with him, but has learned how to balance it with the other relationships in her life. She can't remember her life before she met him. She is looking forward to seeing how their relationship will change over time.