And the PLN survey says...

I received 513 responses to my informal Professional Learning Network Tools survey I sent out last Tuesday. A very good and fast response. By no means a random sample and I am sure flawed in many statistical ways (as I note below), but to me interesting nonetheless.

You are welcome, of course, to view the raw data - here's a link to the spreadsheet. (To view charts, select "Show Summary of Responses" under the Form menu). But here are a few observations that are my main take-aways.

1. Three most used tools: social bookmarking sites (used by 81%), webinars (used by 86%), and blogs (used by 89%).
2. The three least-used tools: Google+ (not used by 63%), LinkedIn (not used by 60%), and Nings (not used by 68%).
3. Three tools getting most increased use: blogs (70%), webinars (66%), and social bookmarking (61%). (Remember that other tools that are not being used at all won't show an increase in use. Look at raw number increases too.)
4. Three tools declining most in use: state e-mail lists (31%), LM_Net (27%), and national e-mail lists (23%) (Remember that other tools that are not being used at all won't show a decline in use. Look at raw number increases too.)

I was taken to task for a number of things about this survey. The biggest objection that respondents had was that some tool use was static and I didn't give them that option. (Sorry, that was intentional.) A number of people commented that they would use more of these tools if they were not blocked at school. Some people thought I should have asked about just information sources, not tools that help one find those sources. Others wanted traditional sources of professsional networking and information included such as F2F conferences and professional journals. PLN mean different things to different folks...

My sense is that we don't always have a good definition for something like "social bookmarking tools." While I see delicious.com as the poster child for this, I also see Pinterest fitting this category, but others may not. I see RSS feed readers/ews aggregators not just as Feedly and Old Reader, but ScoopIt and Paper.li. (Quite honestly, I really don't KNOW all the tools being used out there and how to categorize them. See the list below of things I seemed to have missed.)

I had anticipated e-mail list serves were perhaps waning in popularity and the survey seems to bear this out - but there is still a huge base of users. I thought Twitter would be much more popular. The good job some of our library rock stars are doing with webinars shows up in this survey, I think. 

Anyway, it's nice to know we are connected and those connections, while perhaps changing in some ways, are getting stronger overall. 

I'd be interested in your perceptions of where PLN might be headed.

_________________________________________________

13. Please list any other online resources that play a vital part in your PLN.

Personal email or text conversations with trusted colleagues or interest groups
Google News groups
Plurk
Protopage with RSS feeds
scoopit
Listserv in my school system, university, region, or city
Product user group lists
RebelMouse
Zite
Education Week
Education.com
Accumulating RSS feeds in Outlook email.
Tumblr
Scoop.it,
Learnist
SLJ Online
Evernote and Google Drive both for curating and organizing information.
Edmodo (2)
Conferences do wonders for my PLN by identifying people to follow online
ALA Newsletter
LibGuides
Digital Newsletters
GoodReads
TED talks
YouTube
Instagram
Vine
Professional Journals online
Skype and other video conferencing tools
Independent school listservs (AISL, ISS, GBCLA)
Symbaloo
Bookstore websites
SlideShare, Flickr
Discovery educator network
edweb
Paperli
flipboard.
My Big Campus
wikis
MOOCs
Virtual conferences
Prezi
Teachers Pay Teachers
INFOhio 21st Century Learning Commons and KBC (Knowledge Building Community)

Respondents by type:

72% of librarians seen as tech leader. Not enough!

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/12/k-12/steal-infographic/

Only 72%? 

After banging this drum for 20+ years, why have not all librarians become the tech leaders in their buildings? Don't they want to remain relevant? To stay employed? To add real value to their students' educational experience? To temper tech fever with common sense, purpose, and educational value?

From The Indispensable Librarian, 2nd ed.

Many districts have had wonderful success in giving librarians responsibility for staff development in technology. Here’s why:

1. Librarians have a healthy attitude toward technology. I am afraid my latent sexism will show here, but the majority of our librarians are female, and females often exhibit a healthier attitude toward technology than do we males. On seeing a new box that plugs in, rather than asking “How fast is the processor?” or “How big is the hard drive?”, a librarian tends to ask “What is it good for?” Good librarians are neither technophiles nor technophobes. The librarian considers and teaches not just how to use technology, but why and under what circumstances it should be used. An old adage says that when your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail. For many technologists, technology can become the solution to problems that actually require traditional or human solutions. (Ever see someone spend 45 minutes using a computer to address an envelope?)

2. Librarians have good teaching skills. Unlike technicians they are more likely to use good pedagogical techniques and have more developed human relations and communication skills. We are understanding and empathetic when technologically related stress occurs in the classroom.

3. Librarians have an understanding of the use of technology in the information literacy process and its use in fostering higher level thinking skills. We view technology as just one more, extremely powerful tool that can be used by students completing well-designed information literacy projects. “Technologists”, it seems, are just now understanding this powerful use.

4. Librarians have experience as skill integrators and collaborators. Integration of research and information literacy projects has been a long-term goal of school library programs, and as a result many librarians have become excellent collaborators with classroom teaches, successfully strengthening the curriculum with information literacy projects. We know kids, know technology and know what works.

5. Librarians are models for the successful use of technology. The library’s automated library catalogs, circulation systems, electronic reference materials, and student accessible workstations all showed up well before classroom technologies. Teachers rightfully see the librarian as the educator with the most comfort with technology as well, which in turn bolsters their own self-confidence.

6. Librarians provide in-building support. A flexibly scheduled librarian is a real asset to teachers learning to use or integrate technology. The librarian can work with the teacher in the library, lab or classroom. The librarian is available for questions that might otherwise derail a teacher’s application of technology. This as a primary advantage of the librarian as opposed to a classroom teacher having primary responsibility for staff development in technology.

7. Librarians have a whole school view. Next to the principal, the librarian has the most inclusive view of the school and its resources. The librarian can make recommendations on where technology needs to be placed or upgraded as well as on what departments or teachers may need extra training and support in its use.

8. Librarians are concerned about the safe and ethical use of technology. Students will need to have the skills to self-evaluate information; understand online copyright laws and intellectual property issues; and follow the rules of safety and appropriate use of resources. Who but the librarian worries about digital citizenship?

We need to remember that those responsible for staff development must have good opportunities for training themselves. Librarians can justify a need for workshops, conferences, and training sessions beyond that of the classroom teacher. And, accompanying the extra training must be the administrative expectation and acceptance that the knowledge and skills gained will be proactively shared with the rest of the staff.

Librarians must also commit to on-going, self-directed skill acquisition by forming professional learning communities.

Whether called a consultant or a partner, the school library media specialist needs to be a major, if not lead, player in building staff development efforts. It builds our indispensability!

OK, the remaining 28%. Get on the stick.

7 ways to sell a creative idea

It’s ironic that even as children are taught the accomplishments of the world’s most innovative minds, their own creativity is being squelched. Jessica Olien, Inside the Box: People Don't Actually Like Creativity, Slate, December 2013.

People don't like creativity - I KNEW it!

In my article, "Developing Creativity in Every Learner" (LMC October 2012), I listed as a Myth 7: 

Everyone wants creative students. Creative people have a long history of making others nervous or upset. From Elvis’s gyrations, Monet’s abstractions, Job’s technologies, to Gandhi’s resistance - innovation is met with resistance. Our students (and teachers) who are truly creative just might rattle our preconceptions and our sense of taste. Genuinely new products just may take some getting used to. Recognize this and remember that not all people celebrate the creative spirit.

Creativity means doing something differently, looking at the world differently, potentially creating winners from losers and losers from winners. Any wonder human nature is a little suspicious. (Gee, we had a 17.5% success rate of killing mammoths using the atal method. Might this new fangled bow and arrow be worse? What do we do about Phlem who is headman because of his atal chucking prowess?)

So how do you get your creative ideas accepted when it seems humans are naturally inclined to LIKE staying securely in their boxes?

1. Call it innovative, not creative. To innovate means "make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, or products." Create means "bring something into existence." Vgotsky's proximal theory says to learn something new we have to have a connection with the known. Can your creative idea be implemented in baby steps - an extension of the established rather than a whole new deal?

2. Make your supervisor think it is his/her idea. "I think you were mentioning the other day about changing the process we use to ______________." Have you given this any more thought? I personally think it's a good idea and here's a way we might tweak it...." 

3. Stress the functionality, not the newness. Too often we forget the second half of what makes something creative - that it is both original and effective. When pitching the creative solution, stress the problem that will be solved, not the originality.

4. Suggest a trial run and evaluation. Run a pilot of the new method. Get a volunteer. Select a time frame. Then assess. 

5. Build trusting relationships and a track record.* The old adage that the best predictor of future performance is past performance holds true in leading innovative and creative approaches to solving problems. When suggesting your idea, it wouldn't hurt to mention how your similar approaches to problem solving worked before. And if you don't have a track record of success, should people be nervous about your ideas?

6. Seek recognition. Many leaders like recognition for their programs, schools, or districts. If an innovative program might lead to a state or national award, use that to sell it. This seems the least genuine reason to do anything creative. I'd hope most of us in education try new things for the sake of improving kids' educational experiences, not for personal glory.

7. Be subversive. Just do it. Ask forgiveness later if needed.

How do you sell a new approach when it means upsetting somebody's routine? 

* This recommendation was made with the assistance of my tech integration specialists, Tracy Brovold and Marti Sievek, who are far more "harmonious" than I can ever hope to be.