District Administration - August 2007 - (Page 71)

ONLINE EDGE • Will Richardson Walking the Web 2.0 If you want change, become the change. G REG FARR GETS WEB 2.0. The principal of the Shannon Learning Center, an alternative high school in Haltom City, Texas, has started blogging about his school and other points at a couple of diﬀerent Weblog sites. He’s started a wiki for his staﬀ to use as a way to collect ideas and examples of change. He sends out e-mail podcasts. He’s trying to make his own systems paperless. In many ways, he’s the ﬁrst to admit that these new technologies have transformed much of his thinking about education and his own personal learning. Now he wants his staﬀ to be transformed as well. But as many long-time school leaders know, systemic change is rarely an easy ride. Farr was hoping his normally “cutting edge” and highly supportive team would follow his lead and dive into these technologies, but instead he found more push back than podcasting. “How will I ever have time to create and maintain a blog?” asked one teacher, somewhat ironically, on Farr’s wiki. Another wrote, “Anything I could do with a blog or a wiki I felt like I could do without one, in less time, and without any of the risk accompanying Internet in the classroom.” He was, in a word, stumped. “What had I said or done that caused an otherwise supportive staﬀ to apply the brakes and take a hard look at where I wanted to take them?” he asked on his personal blog. “I will slow down my expectations for staﬀ, but I will not slow down my personal participation.” ditional classroom and teaching practice. Yet for those of us who have sipped deeply from the Web 2.0 well, the opportunities seem very obvious. We can easily connect to global communities and teachers. We can use text, photo, audio and video to distribute our ideas to real audiences. Real, powerful learning can ensue. There is a great deal here for our teachers to engage in. This work will do much to help our students navigate a fast and ever changing world. RESOURCES Greg Farr’s Blog shannonprincipal.edublogs.org Leader Talk leadertalk.org Podcasting from a Farr tinyurl.com/22xgbj Shannon Wiki shannon2.wikispaces.com Tough Sell Farr is not alone in asking this question. While more Read/Write Web technologies are seeping into our daily lives, many, if not most, educators are tepid at best about their use in the classroom. The transparent, social and highly collaborative nature of these tools challenges the tenets of the trawww.DistrictAdministration.com Time is of the Essence As Farr found out, however, the realities for his staﬀ right now are this: not enough time and too much expectation. “As I visited with staﬀ and friends, it became increasingly apparent that I need to adjust my whole sense of timing on this,” he wrote on his blog. “A fair analogy would be to say that as I plan for implementation of Everything 2.0, I want to use a stopwatch. But my staﬀ wants to use a calendar.” But that doesn’t necessarily mean reigning in his own learning. In fact, if anything, it makes modeling the use of the tools to learn even more important. “The real behavior that leads to change is when the educational leader (superintendent, principal, department chair, etc.) acts as a role model and eﬀectively demonstrates the change and clearly unveils the beneﬁts and inherent reinforcing values resulting from a change,” Farr says. And so he will adjust. “But here’s the kicker: I will slow down my expectations for staﬀ, but I will not slow down my personal participation.” And so it should be. As Farr models the uses of these technologies for his staﬀ, he also models them for other administrators who may be wondering about the complexities of this new environment. He makes his struggles clear with the transparency, the safety, and the ethics of the Web, and he engages many others in conversations about the potential outcomes. So in the end, he’s teaching his staﬀ the way. “I will not relinquish the steering wheel of this bus,” Farr states. “I might back oﬀ the pedal just a smidge, but I refuse to hit the brakes.” DA Will Richardson is a contributing editor for District Administration and The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate, www.districtadministration.com/pulse. August 2007 71 http://shannonprincipal.edublogs.org http://leadertalk.org http://tinyurl.com/22xgbj http://shannon2.wikispaces.com http://www.districtadministration.com/pulse http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - August 2007

Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
Research Corner
Computer Literature
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Bus Money
DIBELS Draws Doers & Doubters
Report from EduComm 2007
Ins and Outs of Outsourcing
Curriculum Clearance
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem Solution
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Professional Opinion
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - August 2007