If there is one thing that’s guaranteed to intimidate a newcomer to educational technology, it’s the perfection and poise of the long-established practitioner. “I’ll never be able to do that”, they think to themselves – and that thought in itself can prevent them learning anything new, or at least learning it as quickly as they might do.
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #14 Be over-cautious
There is no better way to quell enthusiasm and induce frustration than to respond to a “brilliant idea” by saying, “Yes, but what about…”. One of the things you learn from experience is that there are always unintended consequences, and part of the leader’s job is to try and think of what they could be, and to help other team members do the same. In the sphere of educational technology, there is ample scope for unfortunate outcomes.
4 Reasons to get published, and 7 reasons to self-publish
In this day and age, in which anyone can publish and distribute their books electronically, or self-publish them by going down several routes (none of which need include the traditional vanity publisher), why should anyone bother approaching a traditional publisher? After all, very few of the thousands of manuscripts that publishers receive find their way into book form, and of those that do, very few hit the big time.
There are, in fact, at least 4 reasons to try to get published by the age-old process of going to publishers. On the other hand, there at least 7 reasons to abandon the commercial publishing route, and do it yourself. In this article I look at both options, in particular from the perspective of an ICT co-ordinator in a school -- although the points could easily apply in many other contexts.
Writers I like: Tony Baldasaro
I popped over to see what was going down on Will Richardson’s blog (where, by the way, there is a great article about online learning, which I’ve been investigating lately), and discovered, via the comments, the Transleadership blog of Tony Baldasaro. This is a real feast.
Read MoreDIY: ICT Case Studies: No place for corporate-speak
You can describe what your school does with educational technology ad nauseum, but in my opinion nothing will bring it alive as much as a well-written case study.
The reason that case studies can be so effective is that they take just one aspect of what the school is doing, rather than trying to present the whole lot.
Managing the Leading
Julia Skinner disagrees with Terry's analysis of people who manage but don't lead.
As consumers ( in the real world) when things go wrong we call for the Manager. That role holds power. Power to sort out difficulties. Power to have answers to customers questions and queries. In retail particularly it is the aim of those career minded youths to work their way up to management and the exulted places they are considered to be.
Also on the web: 02/12/2011 (a.m.)
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eLearn: Feature Article - Man Up Your Leadership: The European management perspective
very in-depth analysis of leadership in general, not ICT-specific.
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eLearn: Feature Article - What Makes a Good Learning Game?
interesting analysis, with useful references. see also the Computers in Classrooms games-based learning specials.
25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #13 Do as you’re told
What could be worse than not doing as you’re told? The answer, of course, is doing what you’re told – and no more.
Read MoreThe 25 Ways series: Retro Response #1
This is the first in what I hope to be a regular spot here on ICT in Education. Terry has kindly invited me to respond some of the articles in his series ’25 things to Make Yourself Unpopular’. The posts will be like an extended comment & I hope you will feel able to comment on them & visit me over at The Head’s Office.
Read More7 ways to prevent vandalism to educational technology equipment
Around 10 years ago I visited a school in which the computers were in a dreadful state. The school’s response was to not bother to renew the equipment on the grounds that it would only get damaged again, so what was the point? I understood their frustration, but in sense all they did was set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy. So what should they have done instead?
As is often the case, there were several factors at play. Some could be addressed almost immediately, whereas others required a longer-term approach. In my opinion, the school should have made the following changes.
25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #12 Be too flexible
One of the things I’ve discovered is that a lot of people need, or at least want, tightly-defined boundaries. I’ve found this to be the case not only in the management roles I’ve had, but even as an editor of Computers in Classrooms and the ICT in Education website.
Read MoreYour Personal Support Network
What is a Personal Support Network (PSN) and why is it important? We often hear people refer to their PLN – their Personal Learning Network. Less frequently mentioned, but at least of equal importance, one’s PSN is crucial for success, especially if radical changes have to be made.
A person’s PSN comprises any or all of the following:
25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #11 Ask questions
It’s a very sad thing, I think, but one thing I have discovered is that if you ask questions, or at least the wrong type of questions, that’s a sure-fire way of attracting opprobrium. A strong word to use, perhaps, but there is little doubt in my mind that daring to question the current conventional wisdom is indeed often regarded as shameful, and usually indicative of not having fully understood the situation.
For example, a lot of people think that one device per child is a good thing to aim for. It certainly sounds admirable, especially in the context of wanting to reduce the digital divide. But when it comes to making purchasing decisions in a school, is it the most sensible or desirable target to aim for? The questions I would ask here are:
DIY: A day in the ICT life
Many ICT strategy documents include a section called "A day in the life". The idea of this is to bring the vision to life in a way that people can relate to, by describing what it will be like in practice. The trouble is, many of these attempts at descriptive prose are completely useless. They are often boring to read, and usually either pedestrian, unrealistic or like a scene from Star Trek.
Read MoreLearning Platforms: 2 Resources and a Conference
One of the things we tend to forget when it comes to major upheavals – such as, in Britain, the so-called “bonfire of the quangoes”, which has seen the disbandment of Becta, Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency and the Training & Development Agency – is a fundamental law of nature, namely Nature abhors a vacuum.
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #10 Never express an opinion
If always expressing an opinion is bad, never doing so is, arguably, worse. Members of a team usually expect their boss to show some leadership, and that always requires opinions to be expressed, and decisions to be taken sooner or later.
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #9 Always express an opinion
Here’s a quick quiz:
Leaders and Managers are supposed to be decisive, right?
a) Yes.
b) No.
c) Not sure.
OK, that’s a light-hearted opening but there’s a serious point to be made. It’s generally thought that the more decisive a leader is, the better. But is it possible for a leader to be too decisive?
DIY: Carrying out an ICT health check
It’s always useful to carry out what I call an ICT health check. It’s like a medical health check: rather than wait for symptoms of disease to manifest themselves, it is far better to be proactive and have a “once over” every so often, say once a year. We rarely do, of course. Another analogy might be farmers’ footing, the practice whereby a farmer will walk around the farm every day to make sure no fences have blown down or anything like that. In short, the idea of a health check is to nip any potential problems in the bud. So what should an ICT health check look like?
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #8 Do not do things properly
You’re probably familiar with the saying “If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly”, and its cousin, “If you want a job doing, do it yourself”. Each has a certain intuitive appeal and each, in a leadership/management situation especially, is utterly untenable.
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #7 Do things properly
After a hiatus born of the Christmas holidays, followed by a week of intensive conference activity and then a desperate (and not entirely successful) attempt to catch up, this series is back! Thanks for your patience during its temporary absence.
Doing things properly is what I like to think of as “making haste slowly”. We live in an age where everything is expected to be decided upon, and then executed, extremely quickly. The problem is that without getting the detail sorted out in the beginning, the work can actually take longer as incorrect assumptions have to be confronted and corrected.