Bold Leaps

Let's Get Political

  As a naive educator many years ago at the SC Department of Education, I witnessed ugly politics up close and personal.  A new superintendent had been elected and great things were expected.  However, from the inside, all I could see was the formation of a "good ole girl" clique, reminiscent of high school.   There were rumors of a hit list, folks had their computers taking away in the night, promotions based on who you knew rather than competence, watching good people get tarnished by false rumors, and other ugly events that opened my eyes to the dark side of politics.  So it is surprising to find myself, older and hopefully wiser, realizing that politics can have a bright side, that connecting with politicians, policy-makers, and others who influence how education is defined and translated can actually be a good thing.  It may be that the  President elect  is inspiring hope in even the most jaded of us.  I am trying to connect with politicians, their communication vehicles, and others in our state thru Twitter, subscribing and commenting on their blogs, and otherwise trying to engage them in conversations about the future of education and technology in our state..  It is time for all of us to get out of the echo chambers!

In the larger education blogspace, Will Richardson recently expressed his disappointment with Obam'as choice of education secretary.  My comment to Will as well as to Ira Socol  was

There are very few in any policy-making positions that know “in a personal way” that our schools don’t work. That is especially true in my state of SC where the governor sends his children to a private school and the “choice” folks are in full force–although there are not “quality” schools for poor children to go to in most of the state! In my own small way, I am making it a mission to connect with as many of our state politicians as possible through Twitter and blogging. A handful–mostly Republicans (my version of “across the aisle”?–have blogs and Twitter accounts. I have reached out to all of them–commenting on their blogs how exciting it is that they are inviting conversation. Some have even ventured to my blog to take a look. I am also encouraging all the other SC edublogosphere to do likewise. Will it have an impact? I don’t know but at least it’s a small start that gets us out of the echo chamber and making connections that hopefully will move us forward. We have a long, long way to go!

To which Will responded

Hey Shirley, Thanks for hanging around this thread. I agree about the “personal way” comment. And thanks for this strategy insight. Maybe if we ALL take up digital arms…

To that end, I have added a widget to this blog to take up "digital arms" on a national level as well.  Last week, President-Elect Obama outlined his economic recovery plan in his weekly address to the nation. His remarks included, “my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.” (To which I say "From his mouth to G-d's ears! "an old Yiddish saying.)

To repeat Tim Holt, 

"Now is the time for to contact Congress with your support for President-Elect Obama’s vision for our nation’s schools and request that Congress include funding for classroom technology and school broadband access in the economic recovery package. Congress is at the initial stage of drafting this legislation. It is crucial that they hear from YOU and YOUR COLLEAGUES NOW!
Now, for the first time in many years, we have a real opportunity to upgrade our schools’ broadband connectivity and bring to scale proven education technology initiatives. Moreover, a school technology investment can jump-start the economy by adding public and private sector instructional technology coaches and IT support positions and can energize the technology and telecommunications sectors.
Don’t delay telling Congress how much our schools, our students and our nation need this support."

Click on the ETAN widget to the right of this blog to get YOUR voice heard.

Making New Connections to Change Old Perceptions

It is a given that if schooling undergoes the major redesign needed, it must be a systemic approach.  Yet, how many times have you heard teachers and administrators say they wish a board member, legislator or other policy maker could follow them around for a day?  That those folks who make the "rules" have no idea what it is like to be a teacher?  There is a huge gap between what is rendered as policy and what happens when that policy is translated into practice.  The most glaring example is how a desire for "accountability" has greatly narrowed the curriculum, killed creativity and innovation in the classroom, and made testing the be-all-end-all measure of a child's "success".  How do we turn this tide so that educators and the students in today's classrooms are able to create, collaborate, and connect with each other in new and meaningful ways, with the technology tools available to all?  In Will Richardson's article published this month in Edutopia, he writes

Welcome to the Collaboration Age, where even the youngest among us are on the Web, tapping into what are without question some of the most transformative connecting technologies the world has ever seen. These tools are allowing us not only to mine the wisdom and experiences of the more than one billion people now online but also to connect with them to further our understanding of the global experience and do good work together. These tools are fast changing, decidedly social, and rich with powerful learning opportunities for us all, if we can figure out how to leverage their potential.

One way we can begin to leverage their potential is for educators to connect with policymakers and let them "follow them around" via Twitter.  It is a small step but one that can prove useful for all involved.  I have added legislators to the list of people I follow on Twitter and have made some connections myself.  Whatever your political views, it is important for policy makers to hear your voice and Twitter is a great way to start.  The SC legislators that use Twitter--some often, others less frequently--are Nathan Ballentine, James Smith, Anton Gunn, Dan Hamilton, and Shannon Erickson.  On the congressional level, you can follow Jim DeMint.  I have made overtures to Joel Lourie and Kathy Harvin but so far no luck.  If you know of others not listed, please add them to the comments. 

The more we can connect and converse with each other, the  more opportunities we have to transform the way we teach and learn.  Especially if the policy makers are also using the same tools we are and experiencing what it means to truly collaborate.  As Will Richardson says, "The process of collaboration begins with our willingness to share our work and our passions publicly -- a frontier that traditional schools have rarely crossed."   Let's make the bold leaps to cross that frontier.

 

Update:  On a recent blog post,  Nathan Ballentine has listed several legislators that are using social media to connect with their constituents.  Check it out and add it to your reader!

What's Policy Got To Do With It?

My years in the classroom have shown and brain research has validated that the best learning happens when someone experiences a phenomenon rather than reading about it in a textbook or listening to a lecture--no matter the age of the learner.  If we are serious about transforming schools to teach digital learners, then it follows that teachers must also transform how they communicate and collaborate in order to experience learning in the digital age.  But what about the policy makers, the elected men and women who craft laws that impact how we educate our school children and fund our schools?  How do they experience this phenomenon called digital learning so that they can make good decisions--whether it is building new schools or establishing accountability criteria?

I am happy to say that is happening in our state--in a small but important way.  A couple of weeks ago, I used Hahlo's Near Me feature to check out who in my area uses Twitter--because after all, you are no one if you are not on Twitter.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my local legislative representative, Nathan Ballentine, is on Twitter! I immediately directed a tweet to him, checked out his blog, and made a comment to this post.   He replied back to me and checked out MY blog.  A connection was made--one that probably would not have happened were it not for the technology.  I appreciate his willingness to learn to use new social networking tools (He also has a Facebook page.) and even better--be excited about it!   As a member on the Education and Public Works Committee of the SC Legislature he can speak to the issue of social networking--its benefits and challenges--from first hand experience and bring reasoned debate to discussions.

Another group of policy makers that also needs to get on board with experiencing new communication and collaboration technologies are school boards.  Scott McLeod's post about a school board in another state being willing to use new technologies to do their work has me wondering about the school boards in SC that use laptops and other paperless environments.  I know of one--Greenville County Schools--the largest in the state.  Are there any others? Is there is a correlation between school boards that are willing to use the technology themselves and their vision of technology use  in the classroom?  How do we begin to bridge the gaps?  What can all us of learn from each other about how we can make revolutionary improvements in education?  What does policy have to do with it?