The Readiness Equation

I was talking to a colleague recently about how we can frame the approach we want to take in building bridges between academic technology resources and community development needs by way of service learning.

On the one hand, the education sector is so rich in potential, creative energy, innovative thinking (and a virtual lack of technophobia) and there are vast deserts of local community that are withering for the lack of such resources. How do we create those bridges? How do we introduce the resources in a way that facilitates their adoption and even better, full integration?

There is a formula (equation?) for this! (Gotta love math! Actually, this idea stems from my accounting class!) This equation, I think, can be applied to most individuals, communities and academic institutions in order to identify areas of need. It's amazingly simple:

Preparedness + Willingness = Readiness

Preparedness refers to the technological tools and skills one needs in order to accomplish a given goal or to begin an endeavor. Willingness is a measurement of the attitude or spirit of receptivity to the process or the endeavor. And readiness is the synergy of those two elements, or state of being that enables a person or group of persons to move forward with reasonable expectation of success toward a goal. Tools plus attitude equals state of being, or readiness.

As an educator, I believe that we are responsible for and capable of catalyzing BOTH preparedness and willingness in any community we hope to serve. As a geek, I have a definite affinity for technology as a tool for this preparedness, but I'm realistic enough to know that willingness is as important to this Readiness Equation as the technological tools we bring to the table (and the lack of willingness perhaps the largest obstacle with which we must contend where preparedness exists, and vice versa).

How do we inspire the confidence of our community of partners in both the tools for their success as well as for their own ability to fully utilize and exploit them for personal and common good? Well, we must lead by example. We must allow for mistakes. We must remain flexible in our plans and open to innovation and creativity (tangents lead to undiscovered treasure!). We must leave the time-line for innovation open-ended and we must include all voices in the conversation. We must provide the "sandbox" of opportunities complete with plenty of innovative toys and space in which to learn and explore. And we must maintain a democratic and egalitarian playground where no single voice or group of voices is allowed to quell the others. And finally, we must allow the process of readiness to be one of self-discovery for all players.

As parents, many of us know that the commonly held belief for the "readiness" of our children on certain hard and scary topics like sex and death is best left to the child. We ask, "When will I know when little Kate is ready to hear the hard-core truth?" And the wisest answer has always been, "She will let you know when she's ready by asking the question." We know that if we answer the questions that are asked simply and straightforwardly, without emotionally laden expectations or warnings, the forum is created by which more (& deeper) questions will come. When the response from us inspires inquisitiveness and wonder rather than embarrassment or shame, the child (in each of us) begins to move forward on his or her own path toward the tools we have laid out and into the spirit of confidence we hope to instill and inspire.

There are parts of us that never "grow up" beyond needing a safe place to explore. Even though our bodies age and toys change from dolls and toy soldiers to the more adult diversions, we, each and every one of us, need that level of encouragement and reassurance in order to progress ourselves toward complicated and scary changes. In the arena of academic technology, I meet people who are brilliant and successful in their professional fields but who melt down into hardened blocks of emotional resistance when the computer is switched on. It's critical, we believe, to address this level of technophobia not only in the process of our work, but in establishing the relationships and arenas in which we will perform and explore it.

In some cases, the preparedness will be there without the willingness. In others, we will find communities or persons with no fear or apprehension but who simply have no access to the tools (hardware/software, access, digital literacy -- each a critical component to preparedness). Mathematically speaking, those scenarios are expressed respectively as:

Preparedness = Readiness - Willingness

or

Willingness = Readiness - Preparedness

and viewing them as such lays out our mission in each custom solution to the obstacles at hand. It is the mission of digiTenn to address not only the preparedness factor (providing hardware and software tools, suitable Internet access and digital literacy to every individual and community) but to address the willingness factor as well. To do so requires the acknowledgment of fear and the dangers of rigid expectations in our program delivery and of ourselves and each other.

With a traditional Tennessee pioneer spirit and the innovative approach to sandboxing (credits to the Tennessee Sandbox Consortium), there is nothing we can't accomplish as a statewide community.

We are ready!

Judges needed!

Bob Bradley of Tennessee State University and founder of the Tennessee Sandbox Consortium is looking for folks willing to judge (online) a regional podcasting tournament. Please click here to register yourself as a judge. You do not need to be affiliated with any of the participating universities and there is no cost or obligation to join the fun. In fact, all judges will be registered to win an iPhone!

More details will be forthcoming regarding this important (and oh-so-fun!) digital media event!

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is not coming; it's here! It sounds pretty intimidating to think that there are still more tools to get to know when we haven't even conquered the old ones. (Imagine! Is anything about the Internet OLD?! Indeed!)

Web 2.0 refers collectively to a handful of new technologies and ideas that represent potential to use the power of the Internet in business and education. Categories like social networking sites (myspace.com and Facebook), blogging for news and education, wikis (check out Wikipedia.org if you don't already know it, to see how reference material can be democratically built by users and how that changes the nature of information) and Second Life have all changed not only the way we work and learn, but how we interact socially and entertain ourselves. The lines are blurring between work and fun ... and that's a good thing, isn't it? I'm all for learning while I'm having fun and having fun while I'm learning, but it's more than a personal preference that makes this an important transition--it's about the wider success of business and learning and the inclusivity that these technologies represent.

Working and learning in academia, I'm always disappointed to hear Wikipedia being dismissed as a less-than-valid source of academic research and information. Sure, it's possible that information exists there that is incomplete or less than accurate, but I'm guessing that's not for long. This sort of user-participation model for sharing knowledge and information takes peer review to a whole new level, doesn't it? Isn't it a GOOD thing, after all, to have the discussions (and heated debates) that grow up out of the information posted? Isn't it fair to let the uninitiated reader know that there is controversy around some "information" and allow the issues to be played out in plain view? That seems so much more in keeping with the spirit of learning and academic development, to me, than simply digging through archives of printed material that may or may not have proximity to opposing views.

I've found a lot of support on YouTube.com for my studies in the agonizing area of accounting. I cannot grasp debits and credits for the life of me, and I'm dragging my class down in discussion with my inability to grasp concepts I should have had in prerequisite courses I never knew to take. Being able to type the key words "debits and credits" and peruse the educational videos so graciously posted there by dedicated educators has been a lifesaver for me! I can rewind 18 gazillion times, stop and start when I need to and keep punching it out without impeding anyone else's progress. I often pick up new "keywords" to search by viewing these and have built playlists of the series of videos that cover extended topics.

As the Internet develops into its next incarnation, video and audio are BIG! Universities serve up free audio and video podcasts in "Itunes U" (look in the left hand panel of the Itunes Store) and YouTube-type sites are growing in popularity among both educators and students. The most innovative educators are not keeping all the fun to themselves, though, they're encouraging their students to produce material as well. While the material produced by amateur educators and fledgling students may not be as spit and polish as professionally produced media, it's exciting, credible and inspiring to those who have plenty to contribute the endless supply of knowledge and information that now inhabits cyberspace.

The idea of proprietary knowledge is fading--and that's a good thing. I'll talk soon about open source, copyleft, creative commons and other manifestations of these ideas.

Free online course in Connectivism

This course in Connectivism looks exciting to me. I'm enrolling ... should you? (There is no cost to audit and it's all online! You have everything to gain and nothing to lose!)

From the Web site:

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge is a twelve week course that will explore the concepts of connectivism and connective knowledge and explore their application as a framework for theories of teaching and learning. It will outline a connectivist understanding of educational systems of the future. George Siemens and Stephen Downes – the two leading figures on connectivism and connective knowledge - will co-facilitate this innovative and timely course.

This course will help participants make sense of the transformative impact of technology in teaching and learning over the last decade. The voices calling for reform do so from many perspectives, with some suggesting 'new learners' require different learning models, others suggesting reform is needed due to globalization and increased competition, and still others suggesting technology is the salvation for the shortfalls evident in the system today. While each of these views tell us about the need for change, they overlook the primary reasons why change is required.

The course will begin in September 2008.

Must watch video!

Dr. Michael Wesch is a professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University who is doing amazing things with Web. 2.0 tools in academic technology (and just happens to be one of my many heroes). See the link to his Web site at the right titled "Digital Ethnography."

This 5-minute video is a good introduction to the issues facing educators today in terms of the challenges created by rapidly changing technology and the demands of a student body who wants educational opportunities on its own terms.

digiTenn is coming

This blog will provide a forum for sharing information and resources regarding academic technology, democratic Internet, digital divide, digital literacy, technology access and other issues related to technology in education, public service and community development, especially within and relevant to the state of Tennessee. The importance of the relationship between higher education (and service learning), public service (government and private not-for-profit) and community development cannot be overstated and this work hopes to strengthen the bridges, communications and collaboration between these sectors in the state of Tennessee.

This blog is owned and managed by Tess Beebe Johnson, a graduate student at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. I take sole responsibility for its contents and the partnerships expressed herein by no way imply an endorsement of the views or information on this blog by persons or organizations with whom I will do this work. The digiTenn project is being written into a proposal for administration as my graduate report and will be submitted for publication this winter. I welcome any and all feedback (I hope to keep the comments section open as long as I can hold back the spam!) and will be developing a full-scale Web site as the project matures. I will also be posting a blog roll of links to important voices in the media and to valuable resources to educators and community developers who value technology as tools for their work.

The digiTenn project is being developed in close collaboration with the Tennessee Sandbox Consortium, its partners and the wider scale Digital Media Sandbox Consortium which now encompasses institutions of higher learning in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. Its scope and range are growing and we hope to highlight their important work in digital media on our pages. DMSC founder Bob Bradley of Tennessee State University in Nashville is being cajoled into collaborating on this blog and in our project and will be posting here from time to time as well.

Please stay tuned!