Educational Insanity

This past weekend, I had a wonderful opportunity to lead a conversation/session at Educon 2.1.  I had planned a 20-25 minute presentation to be followed by small-group and whole-group discussions.  But, at the last minute, I decided to scrap the presentation part and let the folks in the room talk.  At the wiki developed for the session, you can see the premise of the discussion.  The conversations were really good, though we never really got beyond the first question.

Using my Tablet PC, I recorded some of the ideas that seemed to resonate with the folks in the room and that struck me as particularly interesting.  Here are those ideas:

Additionally, one of the attendees was using Inspiration to document the conversation at her table.  Here’s what she came up with:

I’d love to get your thoughts.  Please comment here and/0r (if you really want to be 2.0ish) add your thoughts to the wiki.

Cathy Nelson committed a (somewhat) random act of kindness by commenting on a recent post to let me know that my blog birthday had arrived. [NOTE: while the blog went public on Jan. 9, 2008; the first real substantive post was not until Jan. 16.  So, I'm calling today my blog birthday.]  Thanks Cathy; it’s really comforting knowing that there are people “out there” who pay attention and care.

I’ll use this occasion to thank Scott McLeod, who encouraged me to pursue blogging despite the resistance I would get (and that he has fought) from colleagues at the university-level.  I’m not breaking new ground by stating that Scott is a pioneer, but it’s worth re-stating the impact his vision has on me and many others. Thanks, Scott!

THANKS also to those who’ve read and especially those who’ve assisted my learning by commenting on my posts.

***

I figured I would use this occasion to figure out where I want to go from here. So, modeling a form of data-driven decision making, I checked out my Google analytics data which I started tracking around the middle of Sept. 2008. Most of the data in there are meaningless to me, but I did gain some useful insights.  For example, as per the table in the following image, other than Twitter, search engines, aggregators, etc., the top four “referring sites” have been:

• Dy/Dan
• Edjurist
• Dangerously Irrelevant
• Drape’s Takes

The middle two don’t surprise me, Justin (Edjurist) and Scott (DI) are professorial colleagues and like-minded profs. at that.  However, that I got 78 visits from Dy/Dan does surprise me. I think it speaks to the importance of being out there and commenting on other blogs as a way to drive traffic to our own blogs.  I’ve only commented on Dan’s site a few times, but I do think I caught his attention and the attention of his (large base of) readers at least a couple of times.  There may be an alternate explanation, but I’m thrilled to be able to list Dy/Dan as one of my top referring sites (see table/graphic below for more detail); I admire his writing and the work about which he writes.

What were my “top” posts?

My post about conferences, presentations, etc. generated the most pageviews.  That fact is probably related to Dy/Dan being the top referring site since I referenced and linked to that site in that post.  Beyond that, though, it’s hard to make meaning out of the list in the table/graphic above.  I’m a bit surprised by how high on the list my post about charter schools is.  Most of the other posts on the list are newer post; that makes sense since the number of suscribers to my blog has (slowly) increased.  Mostly, though, as with most of the other data from Google analytics, I think the data are pretty meaningless.

I did, however, note that “Reflections of a new-ish blogger” remains on the list of posts with the most pageviews.  Remember that one?  Yeah, that’s when I dared to reflect out loud (“cocktail party” anyone?) and got beat up pretty badly around the blogosphere.  I was disheartened by the turn of events and nearly stopped blogging.  I’m glad I didn’t because this space has added value to my professional (maybe even personal) life.

So, where’s my birthday cake?

I’ve been tagged by Ryan Bretag for this meme, which I think is a nice idea.  The meme, as described by Ryan:

What 10 people would you want President Obama and Secratary of Education Arnie Duncan to engage with in a Meeting of the Minds focusing on the state of education, a vision for education and education reform?

Ponder your vision for education and what people you would want before doing the following

1. Write a blog post that lists your 10 people
2. Optional: Explain why you selected each person
3. Tag at least 5 bloggers of interest
4. Optional: Link back to this blog

So, here goes (in no particular order):

Deborah Meier / Diane Ravitch – I’m stretching the rules a bit here because I think both of these women need to be at the table, but I want to count them as one of my invitees.  If you can read only one “edublog,” their Bridging Differences is the one to read.  These two veteran educators, reformers, and scholars have had fantastic disagreements over the years, and that’s what makes the Bridging Differences blog so unique.  That said, it seems to me that they’ve each softened a bit and tend to agree more than they disagree.  Still, I could listen to the two of them discuss and/or debate educational issues until the cows come home (what does that mean anyway?).

Sherman Dorn – I’d invite Dr. Dorn for the historical perspective.  IMHO, few people have as thorough an understanding of the history of school reform as Dr. Dorn.  He’s been a blogger for longer than most people have even known of the word “blog,” and I learn from him daily.

Alfie Kohn – the more experience I gain as a parent and the more I (re)read Kohn’s writings, the more strongly I align with his ideology (yes, I used that word).  I believe there are two schools of thought in education: one based in developmental psychology and one based in behavioral psychology.  I’m putting myself squarely in the former by inviting Kohn.

Anthony Bryk / Stephen Raudenbush – another tag team.  There are no two scholars who are able to bridge the world of scholarship and practice like these two gentlemen.  They are absolutely brilliant academicians and researchers, having literally written the book on hierarchical linear modeling (a fancy statistical technique that makes perfect sense in educational settings).  Yet, they are able to take complicated analyses and write and disseminate their findings in ways that are totally accessible.  I encourage you all to listen to and watch Raudenbush’s distinguished lecture from last year.

Kieran Egan – gotta have a philosopher at the table right?  I find that Egan’s big picture view of education is helpful.  I use his article Why Education is so Difficult and Contentious as an introduction to my Politics and Education course.  I have not yet read his book called The future of education: Re-imagining our schools from the ground up, but it’s at the top of my priority list.

Fenwick English – if you know of Fen English, it’s probably as the “father” of the curriculum management audit.  However, I think of Fen as one of the few people who have had a long career as a school leader (he was a superintendent in NY) and an equally long and distinguished career as a professor of educational leadership.  I got to spend some time with Fen recently and learned about his working-class background and how that drives his clear and consistent thinking on important matters of social justice and educational equity. He’d be an agitator at this meeting, and I mean that in a good way.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett – I’ve come to know many school leaders over the years, and while I only met Barbara Byrd-Bennett in person once, I’ve never SEEN leadership in action quite like I saw it enacted one day while I was in Cleveland.  I happened to be there working with the CMSD research director the day after a major bond initiative passed.  That day, BB-B called every single employee working in the CMSD office into the auditorium and proceeded to deliver a spontaneous and moving speech thanking each and every employee for their hard work in getting the bond initiative passed.  She was moved to tears as was just about everybody in that auditorium (I might have even welled up a bit!).  The look in her eyes and the passion with which she spoke were pure embodiments of leadership.  Having worked at every level in large urban school districts, from a teacher in NYC to the CEO of Cleveland, BB-B would be a valued participant at this meeting of the minds.

Roger Schank – he’s been “ahead of the game” and pushing the learning technology envelope for many years.  He understands learning and he understands technology.  He’s written many books about e-learning, but I believe his book Coloring Outside the Lines: Raising a Smarter Kid by Breaking All the Rules is a must read for all parents and educators.

Nicholas Negroponte – we need someone with entrepreneurial spirit and with global concerns. Anyone who can dream up and give birth to the MIT Media Lab and the OLPC project is OK in my book.

My mom – why? because I can (it’s my party and I’ll…).  She taught in elementary schools for many, many years in the South Bronx (NY). I don’t know how she’d be received by the others at this meeting, but I’d love to give her this opporunity to offer her voice; an opportunity that I’m sure was never given to her as a dedicated, hard-working educator.

Now, to pass meme on…I tag:

Justin Bathon

Sherman Dorn (hey, why not?)

Sylvia Martinez

Dan Meyer

Bud Hunt

You’re it…

OK, folks, I need your help.

Back in February 2008, my wife bought me a Slacker Portable Player for my birthday. It cost $250. Slacker had very recently released the player and I thought it was the perfect device for me since I don’t have many mp3’s, have very few CDs I’d want to rip, etc.  I don’t own an iANYTHING. And, I love to discover new music.

Well, the unit malfunctioned from the very start. I rolled with it for a while figuring I was one of the earliest adopters and the firmware updates would improve the functionality of the unit.  That didn’t happen. By June ‘08, I was fed up and asked customer support for a replacement or a refund. They agreed to replace the unit once I sent it back.  I did that; I remember the exact moment when I did that.  My family and I were on our way to NY, and we stopped at the post office.  I had delayed getting the unit shipped for a few weeks and felt good to have finally sent it off.

When I hadn’t received a replacement within a month or two, I contacted Slacker only to be told that they never received the unit.  Apparently, somewhere between the post office and Slacker’s offices, the unit disappeared.  So, Slacker essentially told me that I was out of luck; it was my responsibility to track the unit.  I trusted the USPS and didn’t bother paying for the ability to track the package. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t a great idea.  But…

I pleaded with Slacker, asking them to do the right thing and replace the unit anyway. I sent an e-mail on 12/17/08.  I didn’t get a response, so on 1/08/09, I followed up again and got an auto-reply message that I should get a response within 24 hours.  I didn’t. So, today I went to their online “chat” support to take up my case.  What follows is the transcript of the relevant parts of the discussion (I’ve redacted the Slacker employee’s name):

• XXXXXXX: Thank you for contacting Slacker Live Chat Support.  My name is XXXXXXX.  How may I help you today?
• Jon Becker: Nobody is responding to my e-mails re: Ticket# ….
• XXXXXXX: We are currently about two business days behind in email.
• XXXXXXX: I have read the email.  We are not responsible for any package sent to us, unless we receive it or have proof it was received by us.
• Jon Becker: I understand that, but I’m asking Slacker to consider otherwise. I’m not trying to pull anything here; I’m just a hard-working person with a family and I paid $250 for a device that NEVER worked properly.
• XXXXXXX: There is nothing we can do and this has nothing to do with your situation in our decision.  If we do not receive a package, then you will need to open a claim with USPS.
• XXXXXXX: If you do not have Insurance or tracking, then you run the risk of this happening.
• Jon Becker: That’s not true; there is something you can do.
• Jon Becker: You were going to send me a new unit anyway, so what’s the difference now?
• XXXXXXX: We do not have a unit that is the difference.
• XXXXXXX: We exchange the unit.
• Jon Becker: what does it matter if you got my non-functional unit?
• XXXXXXX: It matters because we have inventory to account for.
• Jon Becker: Listen, I know Slacker is a small company with bills to pay. But, I strongly believe that doing right by your customers and building a loyal customer base is infinitely more important than “accounting for inventory”. I was one of the earliest adopters of Slacker and want to see the company succeed, but I’m really turned off by the way Slacker is handling this. Not replying to e-mails was a bad start.
• XXXXXXX: I just informed you we are two business days behind in emails.  We have no need to take action in this case as your package was lost by USPS and never received by us.  We would have exchanged it had we received it.
• XXXXXXX: We are not able to verify that you sent us the package.
• Jon Becker: the e-mail I sent on 1/8 was a forward of the e-mail I sent on 12/7
• XXXXXXX: I am looking for the email on 12/7
• Jon Becker: You need to “verify” that I sent you the unit? That’s the issue? So, I guess you just don’t trust me?
• XXXXXXX: We are not able to verify the unit.
  
• XXXXXXX: We dont trust anyone until we receive the unit.
• Jon Becker: really?
• XXXXXXX: Really, its business and not personal.
• Jon Becker: those are NOT mutually exclusive
• XXXXXXX: I am just letting you know.  We are not able to replace this unit as we do not have one back from you.
• Jon Becker: If you’re just going to hide behind that policy and your statement that you don’t trust anybody, so be it. We’ll see how that works out for you.
• XXXXXXX: Like I said we do not have an item from you to exchange.
• Jon Becker: yep, got it for the 15th time. I’m done with Slacker altogether. Well done.

You may very well think that I’m wrong and that I should, in fact, bear the burden of the loss.  Fine.  But, here’s a small company in a highly competitive industry and their stated policy is that ” We dont trust anyone…”  How’s that for customer relations?

So, how can you help?  If you’ve read Here Comes Everybody, you might remember the story in the first chapter about the lost phone and how the read/write web allowed the “victim” to get her phone back through mass, Web-based collaboration.  Well, I need mass, web-based collaboration; I need a Smart Mob.  I’m calling for a boycott of Slacker. Don’t support them in any way; there are plenty of alternatives for customized Internet radio, including Pandora, imeem, last.fm, etc.  And, the Slacker portable player will become obsolete once everybody has an iPhone and/or Blackberry (heck, I could nearly buy one of each of those with the $$ it cost to buy the Slacker player in the first place).

I’m also asking you to spread the word. Post about this on your blog; I don’t even need you to link back. Just spread the word.  Write about building customer loyalty. Write about “trust”.  Whatever.

Thanks in advance.

Remember those commercials?

My muse for this post was a clever but meaningful post by Miguel Guhlin yesterday.  In a small font at the end of the post, he links to a service called Newspaper Clipping Generator which allows you to create a reasonably authentic looking clipping of any newspaper article you wish to create.  So, the little “trick” he played on his readers teaches us an important lesson about reading the fine print. It also raises issues of authenticity in the digital age.

Consider also this little video I learned of today through Twitter:

Digital Diet by BeFunky Cartoonizer from BeFunky on Vimeo.

It’s like Photoshop made easy. And it also points out how easy it is to “fake” or significantly alter images.

There are other examples of web-based services like this.  It has been my experience that people tend to use them to play tricks or jokes on friends or colleagues.  But, the number of really thoughtful and intelligent people who fell for Miguel’s joke points out how easy digital deception is.

Information literacy? Digital literacy? 21st century literacy? Nah, but be careful out there folks!