Steps to keeping your tech sanity

Janice Robertson left an interesting comment on the blog post about My TOC of the book on which I'm working.  She wrote:

Somewhere in there, do you have a section that addresses how not to get overwhelmed with the flood of tools and information that is out there? I find that many of the new technology users are initially protected from inundation because they have little or no knowledge of the vastness of the possibilities and how those choices and info bits can eat up an entire lifetime, but then, once you open the gate for them... they can get so consumed in "learning" that they actually end up accomplishing nothing of action because they don't know where to start. I hope your book includes some solid advice on surviving the technology tsunami.

I dug back through a presentation on personal learning networks where I address this issue, and spruced it up a bit below.

I'd love to hear your sanity keeping strategies. How do you, personally, survive a "technology tsunami" without dangerously turning your back on the wave?

If you are a classroom teacher who wants to take advantage of powerful technologies in both your classroom and for other professional tasks but still have time to talk to your own family, read a book or even get some sleep, consider the following strategies...

1. Start with the problem, not the tool. Rather than scan the flood of "new and recommended" programs, apps and websites for programs that look useful, start with two or three challenges you have in your work life. Do you have a unit that doesn't engage your students? Are you having a problem getting a project done with your curriculum team? Is it frustrating keeping files current among the multiple devices you use? What might help meet the objectives of your PLC? Scan for tools that help solve real problems.
2. Be selective about where you get your recommendations. Let's face it, there are folks who get excited about anything that is new, shiny and beeps. For those who want to make trying out new technology resources their avocation and forgo any attempt at normalcy, that's great. But I would select two or three trusted sources of new programs. These sources might be a websites or blogs, your librarian or tech integration specialist, or a fellow teacher. But let somebody else do a pre-screening of the new stuff.
3. Try just one new tool at a time. Trying to learn too many programs can be as destructive to your professional life as ignoring technology completely. Pick one interesting resource and use it for a month. Then try another one. Nobody has to be the master of every technology available.
4. One in, one out. When I buy a new pair of shoes, I throw an old pair away. (This drives the LWW nuts.) When I start to read a new blog, I unsubscribe from an old blog. If you create an online webpage for your parents, stop doing the printed one. Figuring out what to stop doing is probably the hardest, but most important thing you need to do to stay sane.
5. Don't try to fix that which is not broken. If you are happy with your webbrowser, your online bookmarking site, your cloud photo storage space, your blogging software, your e-mail system, stay with them. Change for the sake of change is unproductive.
6. Weigh the time/benefit ratio. Evaluate the new resource as objectively as possible. Will taking two hours to learn this program well either save me more than two hours in time in the immediate future or will it help me reach students who could not be reached before? Let's face it, some programs are too complex, too time-intensive to learn to ever offer a decent payback. Evaluate.
7. Give back and become part of a community of learners. Be your school's guru on one helpful tool. Join a group of other technology learning educators either F2F or online. Make learning new technologies social and make friends. After all, misery does love company.

I also encourage you to read Jeff Utecht's Stages of PLN (Personal Learning Network) Adoption. Reach for the Balance end of the curve.

Your insanity may be temporary.

You need groupies

Groupie [noun] 1: a fan of a rock group who usually follows the group around on concert tours; 2: an admirer of a celebrity who attends as many of his or her public appearances as possible; 3: enthusiast, aficionado <a political groupie> from Merriam-Webster.com

Groupies just aren't for rock stars. Librarians and tech integration specialists need them too.

This was sent to me by a classroom teacher in our district:

Dear Mr. Johnson,

The week before Christmas, four students from my classroom were selected to spend a week studying any topic they chose. They were excused from Reading and Grammar for one week and allowed to work on their project. They also had access to the library and the internet.

Yesterday, the first child presented her report on Popcorn. I have attached her presentation to this email. I want to draw your attention to the professional look, pictures that reflect the text, the citation, grammar and spelling of this piece.

I wish to thank the media curriculum team and my media specialist for teaching Powerpoint to my students. I also want to express my appreciation to my media specialist for allowing my students to present their power point presentations to their classmates. This procedure allowed my student to successfully complete a very enjoyable and informative lesson on her own. I did not assist with anything. She knew what to do.

Please consider me an advocate for the importance of having a media specialist within a school.

Sincerely,
MAPS Elementary Teacher

This library media specialist has a groupie - some one who is an ardent fan of her work, her abilities and her vision. Someone who is so appreciative of the librarian's work that she will have an ally when the next round of budget cuts come. 

We all need groupies. How do you cultivate them? How do you keep them? How many do you need?

What do you do that makes you a rock star in the eyes of your students or staff?

In praise of late adopters

I've decided to come out of the closet.

No, no, not that closet. But I need to fully confess that I am  a confirmed "late adopter." No more subterfuge, no more denial, no more embarrassment.

I am out and proud of my foot-dragging tendencies.

Most of us are familiar with the Rogers "Technology Adoption Lifecyle" popularized by Geoffrey Moore in his book Crossing the Chasm. (Info and graphic below are from Wikipedia.)

The original model was based on a study of farmers who adopted new agricultural methods. Rogers described the groups as:

• innovators - had larger farms, were more educated, more prosperous and more risk-oriented
• early adopters - younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders
• early majority - more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbours
• late majority - older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active
• laggards - very conservative, had small farms and capital, oldest and least educated

Moore and others saw this curve with all technology adoptions.

Why am I suddenly identifying with the "older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active" group, Well,  I recognize that it does increasingly fit my description. As the t-shirt says, "Over the hill and picking up speed."

But really it's because last weekend I got completely disgusted at having five different goddam ends for five goddam different devices that need to be charged.

• My cell phone
• My MiFi 3G wireless router
• My iPad and iPod
• My Kindle3
• My laptop

I got more cords than a Wurlitzer organ. (Or maybe that should be chords.)

I am quite sure others in my late adopter peer group will not have to deal with this recharger nonsense; that a common "tip" for all devices must be on the horizon. All good things come to those who wait.

This lack of consistency is just one thing that makes sane people drag their feet about any technology adoption. Why should a busy teacher need to remember what charging cord goes to what do-hickey and carry a bag-full around? (Don't get me started on those kits that have several interchangeable tips, either. Expensive and lost in 30 seconds.)

Educational leaders (innovators) spend a lot of time encouraging and persuading the early adopters and even the early majority, but few pay much attention to those of us who want to make darned sure the time, effort and expense of doing something new is worth it.

We late adopters add stability to institutions in a world that changes at an unsettling rate. We demand hard evidence that the new thing is also the better thing. We recognize that there is value in some aspects of the status quo. We are more than happy to let others be on the bleeding edge and have the kinks all worked out of the system by the time we get to the new technology.

Here's my advice for getting those of us in the back of the line on the tech bus...

• Make sure it works flawlessly, every time.
• Make sure it really saves me time or makes me more productive.
• Make it as transparent as possible.
• Don't make me use so many steps I've got to write them down or keep a manual by my side.
• Have plenty of endorsements about your technology from building-level practitioners - not starry-eyed visionaries.
• Don't make be get a different charger.

Join me for Late Adopter Pride Week. I'll let you know when it is. If ever.