Manifestos as change agents

Manifesto: a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer. m-w.com

Has the prevalence of the term manifesto increased along with the popularity of blogging? Along with the word meme (which I had never encountered before blogging), manifesto as become, well, manifest. John Pederson' Learning is Conversation remix of the Cluetrain Manifesto was my first encounter with the term - and was probably the first entry that got me excited about reading blogs. There is a Library 2.0 manifesto. Hugh McLeod at Gaping Void makes a career as a manifestisto.  I've even been a snowflake in the manifesto avalanche myself, writing the Teacher’s Technology Manifesto a year or so ago. Recently, Christian Long at think:lab has drafted a  "The Future of Learning" Manifesto that is well worth reading. Somebody more Web 2.0ish than I needs to give me some background on this phenomena (or is it meme?).

Reading these pithy and often radical lists usually results a bit of sugar high for the brain - the equivalent of a mental Snickers bar. Quite enjoyable while the sensation lasts. But the bigger question I am compelled to ask is: do manifestos and the conversations they inspire actually create any real change - especially in schools?

The hoary old change formula that has served me well both in theory and application is C = D X  V X F > R. Allow me to translate:

• C = Change (personal, departmental, intuitional, societal -  usually all levels have to change if any are to change)
  
• D =  Discontent (somebody has to be unhappy with the status quo, either inside or outside the organization)
  
• V = Vision (how things might be different - this one is tricky since a majority of those effected need to buy in, and conflicting visions are the rule, not the exception, in education)
  
• F = First steps (actual, doable actions that can be undertaken to bring about the vision - and the determination and leadership to stay with a long term plan)
  
• R = Resistance (the natural reluctance that everyone to change - it's scary. it's work, it's uncertain, it's expensive, it's...)
  

Oh, please note that no variable in the equation can be zero. If something is missing, the product (amount of change) will also be  zero. (Pretty good math for an English major, eh?)

 
So where do manifestos fit into this formula? Most have a sub text of discontent. There are elements of vision, though relatively general. Little in them speaks to actionable first steps.

I suppose all change has to start with somebody pounding a few theses on a metaphorical church door. But if this is where our (bloggers) change efforts end, we might better use our time volunteering in a library or classroom or soup kitchen if we actually want to make a concrete difference in society.

Scott McLeod's recent survey asked an interesting question: Would you quit your current job if you could support yourself and your family through blogging? I didn't think twice before answering a definitive "no." As frustrating as creating change in a real school system might be (read Pete Reilly's The Tyrant for a pretty good example), I cannot imagine being a full time bloviator. Putting ideas into practice is what excites me, even when doing so might be easily mistaken for beating one's head against the wall. Hot air might make a balloon rise temporarily, but I've never seen it build anything.

Do we need a Manifesto Manifesto?  

Just how much do teachers need to know about technology?

Long weekends like the last two can be a blessing for a writer who always seems to be running very close to deadline. The holidays gave me a chance to work on each of the three columns I write on a regular basis.

• "Tech Proof" for the website Education World. Aimed at the mainstream classroom teacher, it appears monthly on very general educational technology issues.
  
• "Media Matters" for ISTE's Leading and Learning with Technology. The primary audience is tech-savvy library media specialists (but since the organization serves a wide-range of educators, may be read by them as well) and appears in four issues of the magazine each year.
  
• "Head for the Edge" that appears in Library Media Connection each month. Mainstream library media specialists are the readers. I've written this one since God's dog was still a puppy (or 1995, anyway.)
  

And even after all this writing, I still am not convinced I really know what I am doing.

Thinking about each column over the past couple weeks gave me a chance to reflect on the audience each venue serves. It's not unusual for me to deal with a single technology or library issue, but in very different ways depending on the group for whom I am writing. How do we connect with others on technology issues in ways that resonate? That create change? That illuminate rather than confuse?

One fear I have about technology writing is with what I call the "Alpha Wolf" syndrome.  I've written about this in regard to instructors in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Technology Trainers:

6. Knowing what is essential and what is only confusing.
A good trainer will have a list of the skills the learners should have mastered by the end of the training. As instruction proceeds, that list will be the basis for frequent checks for understanding. As an often-random thinker, I find such a list keeps me as an instructor on track and provides a class roadmap for the learner. Now here’s the catch with this one: truly great technology teachers  know what things beginning learners really need to know to make them productive and what things might be conveyed that only serve to impress a captive audience with the technologist’s superior intellect. (“The email address is comprised of the username, the domain name, the subdomain name, the computer name, all referenced in a lookup table at the NIC.” Like that.) It’s an alpha wolf thing, especially common with males. Be aware of it, and strive as an instructor to use charm and a caring demeanor with the pack to achieve dominance instead.

This applies to writers as well, knowing what's essential, what's helpful, and what's just showing your vast command of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms).

But now I am thinking that some deep background in how technology works might in the long run be critical to a user's long-term success. What has me wondering is reading Michael Pollan's wonderful new book, The Ominvores's Dillema.

I am gaining, not just knowledge and facts about the food I eat, but an understanding of food and deeper appreciation of nutrition. Knowing how the Chicken McNugget got to McDonalds and its ingredients are a good deal more meaningful than a simple chart with calories and fat grams listed.

Applied to technology, might this mean that a tech user would be more adept at dealing with spam if s/he understood more about what spam actually is, why it is sent, and the logic behind spam filters rather than the simple "5 Steps You Can Take to Reduce Your Spam" approach. But how do we keep the person who has a healthy perspective on technology (thinks of it as little as possible) awake during the information session on "why filtering alogrithms work and why they don't"?

 I very much appreciated Will Richardson's tribute to writing instructor Donald Murray on Weblogg-ed. I had never heard of the Mr. Murray, but Will's words made me wish I had. One quote from Murray opened a little window into some of my writing questions:

“The good writer is always forcing the reader to contribute to the text. What is published is only half–or less– of the text…”

Don'tcha love it when the view becomes a little clearer? 

Don't be a notty-pated hedgepig

If you are an educational blogger, please consider completing Dr. Scott McLeod's blogger survey. From his Dangerously Irrelevant blog:

Hear ye! Hear ye!
All education bloggers are hereby invited and encouraged to...

• complete the short and completely unscientific, but hopefully interesting, education blogosphere survey;
• forward the URL of said survey to all other known education bloggers to ensure decent representation of the education blogosphere;
• and publicize said survey URL on their own blogs to foster greater participation in this most noble endeavor.
  

Survey results received by Sunday, January 14, shall be posted in the town square on Wednesday, January 17.
Those solicited who choose not to participate shalt be labeled both publicly and widely as dastardly scoundrels, notty-pated hedgepigs, or beslubbering, doghearted, maggot-ridden canker-blossoms!

Please humor Dr. McLeod. I hear that he has no life outside of blogging and this would mean the world to the little fella.