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.

I "shipped" in 2010 - you can too

What did you ship in 2010?

This might be a useful exercise. Doesn't matter whether it was a hit or not, it just matters that you shipped it. Shipping something that scares you ... is the entire point.

[Funny, it's actually difficult to publish a list like this... maybe that's another reason we hesitate to ship, because we don't want to tout too much]. Seth Godin

"What did you ship?" is a great question for all of us to ask ourselves. What, beyond just doing one's job, did you accomplish (not try to do, not intend to do, not think about doing, not hope to get done, not plan to do - but actually DO) in 2010? What did you do that was a little bit scary? That you might have drawn criticism for? That may changed the world just a little bit?

Godin listed a baker's dozen of things he "shipped." I can only think of nine things I shipped outside my day job. (But then he is Seth Godin and I am not.) Here they are:

1. Presented nationally at FETC in January, the Catholic Library Association conference in April, Spotlight on Books cconference in April, Rhode Island School Library Conference in May, Newport News school library workshops in June, ISTE in June, MEMO, Sioux City school workshops, ITEC and ILA in October, North Carolina school library conference in November, and TIES in December. (If I missed somebody, I apologize!)
2. Presented internationally at the American School of Bombay's Unplugged Conference in Mumbai in February, CEESA in Estonia in March, and AAISA in Nairobi in October.
3. Presented in Second Life twice and presented using web conferencing/Skype software four times.
4. Published these articles/book chapters:
   
   1. “Changed but Still Critical: Brick and Mortar School Libraries in the Digital Age,”InterED, Association for the Advancement of International Education [AAIE], Fall 2010.
   2. Taming the Chaos, Learning & Leading with Technology, November 2010
   3. “Miles’s Library: Annotated” - chapter in Visionary: Leaders for Information compiled by Dr. Arthur Winzenried from the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia.
   4. Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) Skills Curriculum Based on the Big6 Skills Approach to Information Problem-Solving. 2010 with Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz.
   5. Guidelines for Educators Using Social and Educational Networking Sites (with Jen Hegna) Library Media Connection, March/April  2010.
   6. “Censorship by Omission”  Library Media Connection, January/February 2010.
   7. “Computing in the Clouds” Leading & Learning, Dec/Jan 2009/10
5. Published these columns:
   1. “What Does a Good Library Tell You About a School?” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, November 2010.
   2. “The E-Book Non-Plan” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, October 2010.
   3. “School Libraries as Third Place” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, August/September 2010.
   4. “Gone Missing” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, May/Juel 2010.
   5. “Don’t Confuse Social Networking with Educational Networking” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, March/April 2010.
   6. “21st Century Libraries and 20th Century Schools” Head for the Edge column, Library Media Connection, January/February 2010.
6. Published 265 blog entries.
7. Spoke at my local Kiwanis club on hiking and e-books, chaired a club foundation board and servered as club webmaster/photographer.
8. Hiked NZ's Abel Tasman coast with my son in April and summitted Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro in October.
9. Got a physical, walked 3 miles a day, 4-5 times for about 80% of all weeks; and lost 20 pounds.

OK, I will admit that writing and speaking and most of this stuff is more fun for me than work. I don't have small children or other dependents to care for. My day job doesn't require much overtime. I don't play golf, fish, or square dance. My Saturday and Sunday mornings and many an evening are spent writing and reading and designing presentations and workshops. I have, through just plain dumb-luck, very good health, a supportive wife, an interesting job and great co-workers, and lots of opportunities to speak and consult.

I personally measure my days not whether they were happy or unhappy, but whether they were productive or unproductive. Did I have a fruitful conversation or meeting? Did I get something finished? Did I write something worth sharing? Did I read something challenging? Did I do an hour's worth of physical activity? Did I clean up a mess, revise an article, or organize something for the future? Did I do something that made my own life or someone else's just a tad better?

All of us need to "ship" - do more than is necessary on our jobs and professions (especially librarians and tech integration specialists), at home (as spouse/partners/parents/grandparents), and for ourselves (exercise, healthy eating, recreation, and the occasional reward). I am by nature a lazy person of middling intellect - so if I can ship, you can ship.

What did you ship in 2010 and what will you ship in 2011?