My 2008 Wish List

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. - Mother Goose

If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass when he hops. - probably not Mother Goose

After reading several blog posts of New Year's predictions, concerns, and accounting, I've decided to take the safe route and simply list some wishes (rather than predictions) for 2008. Just assuming everyone already wishes to end world hunger, to assure democratic governments through world conquest, and to lose weight, I'm restricting these to education-library-technology areas.

I am not holding my breath, but ya just never know...

1. I'm still wishing for a practical student laptop. The ASUS Eee and OLPC XO are exciting, but not there yet.
   
2. I'm still wishing for a new library catalog worth the cost of upgrade.
3. I'm wishing for a clearly written guide for students (and teachers) about what is legal, what is illegal and what we don't know about fair use and copyright, especially digital content rights. (I am not the only one confused. So are Joyce and Jeff.)
   
4. I'm  wishing for a single set (or at least coordinated set) of Student Skill Standards from ISTE and AASL that are both visionary and understandable to the non-librarians and non-techies.
   
5. I'm  wishing for a broader view of what constitutes "evidence." That professional experience, common sense, good anecdotes, and intrinsic goodness still count in educational decision-making - not just numbers which are as easily misinterpreted as meaningful.
   
6. I'm wishing Google weren't turning evil and privacy weren't necessarily a thing of the past.
   
7. I'm wishing for a comprehensive, longitudinal survey of library media staffing to see if the profession is actually losing, gaining or staying steady postion-wise. Why is the school library field crying both about cuts and the lack of certified staff to fill positions?
8. I'm wishing I wouldn't feel guilty about not liking Twitter, Ning and other very-social, social networking sites. Is there an "anti-social" web somewhere for me?
9. I'm wishing my elementary schools will abandon Microsoft Office and go with OpenOffice/NeoOffice this year.
   
10. I'm wishing any revision of NCLB includes mandated IL/IT skills for all students.
11. I'm wishing this election year will result in an awareness by teachers of how important Web 2.0 tools are for engagement in political discourse. And why closing the digital divide - however defined - is more important than ever.
12. I'm wishing more educational bloggers would develop a sense of humor, show more online civility, and see comments as problem-solving opportunities, not pissing contests.
13. I'm wishing everyone's "out-of-the-office" e-mail notification would just stop working.
14. I'm wishing never to read another document with 21st Century or 2.0 in the title. (Although The 21st Century Blue Skunk Blog 2.0 has a nice ring to it.)
15. I'm wishing a school library media specialist gets elected to the ISTE Board this spring.
16. I'm wishing Miguel Guhlin a successful career as a real writer.
17. I'm wishing Second Life would get more stable, less bandwidth intensive and easier to use (and the LWW would be less suspicious of the cute avatars within it.)
18. I'm wishing that all of us remember that collaboration is a method for achieving a goal, not the goal itself.
19. I'm wishing schools would figure out a better way to individualize the educational experience for both kids AND teachers.
20. I'm wishing Blue Skunk readers would contribute some of their own wishes in the comment section of this entry.
    

The Wart Fairy - one of many intriguing winged creatures at the Wings Picture Gallery at Freaking News. 

Comments

[Cathy Nelson]

a wish to add:
IT folks who DON'T have the "bury your head in the sand" thinking methodology when it comes to global tools like blogs, wikis, social networking and more. I hate to tell them, but while they've had their head in the sand and the filters strong, tough, and forbearing, most everybody I know is using them more and more. Can we blame IT for the lack of growth in education in general? Maybe they are the reason libraries are not mentioned in NCLB?

So, who do you propose should start a a Ning called Social Networking Anonymous--oh wait, Nings are blocked at school. Bummer.

[ken]

I'm wishing that teachers would take some ownership over learning and applying new technologies to their teaching...

But I'm not wishing too hard on this one...

Then I'd be out of a job.

[Jenny]

I wish school systems would find ways to support teachers using technology. I really do believe that more teachers would try many of these tools if they knew they had the tech support for when something doesn't work or when they are stumped. Things move fast in a classroom and we need things to work the way we expect them to at that moment. And I teach in a district that is pretty good about supplying the manpower for this.

[Jethro]

I also wish that we could see collaboration as the method for achieving a goal. Many of the teachers at my school seem to think that collaboration is great but nothing really happens because of it. It is not increasing student learning.

I wish that there were more integration of the ideas of a PLC and technology. It is so very frustrating that there are so many online/technology related collaborative tools that we don't use because technology and collaboration are mutually exclusive.

[Janice Friesen]

I just want to second your wishes and send you a :-) What a wonderful thing a sense of humor is! I really like it that someone of your stature can say that they don't really like certain things. It makes it OK for the rest of us!

I don't have copyright figured out, but I don't think anyone does-even lawyers. I know that Media Specialists have to know more than most teachers, but here is my attempt to simplify it for teachers:

http://jfriesen.net/copyright/copyrightforedmain.htm (I used Teacher's First pages about wikis http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm as an example of how to organize the information.

The main thing I think is that doing it yourself rather than copying and adding a Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/ or even a note of your own intentions about sharing is the best way to avoid problems. (not that I have ever had any that I know of....)

Janice

[Sandy]

I wish the "powers that be" in local school systems would take an interest in information literacy skills and not assume that just adding more computers = being able to boast about advance technology use. I wish I didn't get the blank look that means "I don't want to know about it" when copyright issues are mentioned. Happy New Year everyone!

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Cathy,

The simple solution is to hire only IT directors who are former librarians ;-)

Wouldn't having a Ning for the anti-social be like having Happy Hour for AA?

Thanks for the comment and all the very best!

Doug

Hi Ken,

I remind my techs that another name for problems is "job security,"

Thanks for posting!

Doug

Hi Jenny,

It does seem ironic that while schools will invest millions in hardware, they are reluctant to spend anything on people to keep it running.

I hope we ALL get your wish too!

Thanks for commenting,

Doug

Hi Jethro,

I appreciated your comment about PLCs and tech. I've played with idea before:

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2007/5/22/23-bites-of-elephant-using-the-social-web-to-support-plcs.html

Seems like a natural evolution of staff development after teachers have learned the basics - actually apply tech to immediate issues with which they are dealing.

Thanks for the comment!

Doug

Hi Janice,

I find the depth of my own ignorance astounding at times!

I appreciate your guides (I liked the simplicity of the Teachersfirst site as well.)

Where I get befuddled is with questions about when kids can use materials in their own presentations in class, at science fair, etc. Justifying having to buy public performance licenses. Defending digital rights management, etc.

I also worry that we are creating a society of scofflaws in regard to copyright and one day these same kids will be trying to make a living from their creative endeavors!

Thanks for writing and all the very best!

Doug

Hi Sandy,

I have the same frustration in my district (and state) about little regard for information literacy skills. Having a lot of administrators whose careers are hanging on test scores right now is a big part of the problem IMHO.

Thanks for commenting!

Doug

[Jane L. Hyde]

Doug, Thanks for the great list. I keep trying to write a response but keep getting interrupted (the name of the game here, and rightly so). I agree with you on many of your points. I haven't followed your evil Google lead so figure you probably have a reason for voting for OpenOffice,not Google docs, but I'll check it out. On the social networks: I wonder if it isn't just a personal preference, or what you're used to. You write your blog (and other things) and have people respond, plus you travel and see a lot of people, so maybe you don't need a network. They may be more useful for others who are more isolated. After the AISL (Assoc. of Independent School Librarians) conference last April in Philadelphia, where we visited the wonderful (and public school) Joyce Valenza, we were all excited about Ning. Joyce had made a Ning community for school librarians, and I started one for AISL as a way of sharing expereinces, conferemce photos and videos, etc. I didn't really know whether it would be useful, but it was fun to start something new, and for me it was by way of experimentation. We haven't used it a lot, but I still think it's good to have online communities for people who don't get together often or at all. It's more two-way than a blog or website. We'll see. I have no desire to Twitter, however.
My wishes? I started a Dunstanology blogpost on the topic then lsot the Google connection, so I'll try again.
By the way, joyce also turned us on to wikis.
Happy new Year!

[Nancy]

I wish that district administrators would stop trying to prove that we are "doing" 21st century learning with evidence that looks like "add-ons" to a teacher's plate (and it is!). They need to wake up and realize that 21st century learning is about transformation in daily teacher practice --it's not doing more stuff, but its about doing things differently. And then, I wish that they would provide the support (professional development) and staffing to help facilitate the transformation! Amazing --that pretty much covers my answer to a survey done by the Council on 21st Century Learning on what I think are the top 3 things holding us back: vision, understanding and staffing.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the great comments.

Privacy is on reason for choosing Open/NeoOffice over GoogleDocs. The other is that one needs to be online, of course, to use GoogleDocs, but Open/NeoOffice can be used on a non-networked computer. GoogleDocs or a wiki are great for collaborative writing and peer review though. (I tend to write in a word processor and then upload to the wiki.)

Yeah, I have other means than Twitter and Nings to be social, I guess. One thing I've figured out is that I much prefer asynchronous apps (blogs, e-mail, wikis) to synchronous (Twitter, cell phones, Skype). Time management issue?

You are lucky to have gotten to know Joyce. She is truly the expert/leader in all things library and Web2.0!

All the very best,

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Nancy,

Great wishes. It's too common to see "tech integration" as a goal (like collaboration) instead of means toward a goal - more effective practice, better skill acquisition by students, increased engagement, all students successful, etc.

Hoping you see at least some of your wishes come true in '08!

All the very best and thanks for writing,

Doug

[Ann Hagen]

The Copyright Website has some interesting information about copyright law with a pop culture twist. Most of it is pretty friendly to teens, although the wording does get difficult sometimes. I refer my students to the music and movie case studies that include video and sound clips of real copyright issues.

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks, Ann. This site does look helpful!

Doug