Thursday, October 16, 2008

School Improvement - A Tough Road

I was speaking with a professor form LSU recently about efforts to reform schools where students were not making advancement.  We both agreed that the institution of education in America is essentialy broken in many ways.  And while our disucssion was great and heartfelt, I came away from it with no real new ideas about how to fix a broken bureaucratic institution.  There are so many obstacles that I surrender to defeat very time I think about ways that can be adopted to achieve widespread school improvement.

The key element in every idea that I have is people.  Good qualified people who are willing to be held accountable for providing a safe, nurturing learning environment where students can succeed and realize their potential.  How do you get great people to work for miserable pay levels often times in very poor conditions inside of a seemingly backwards bureaucratic institution?  I have no clue.  I only know that it is not working.

I don't think that anyone can argue that our best natural resource in this country is our people.  And right now, we are not investing in our children who will very soon become the next generation of our best natural resource.  I read news stories every day of children who can't read, teachers engaging in social promotion and school leaders cheating and falsifying data to meet NCLB requirements.  When does all of this madness stop?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Cost of Registration

Somebody commented on one of my blogs today that having to register for free SW applications and solutions was not open and it was just plain wrong.  Why?  In registration, you are asked to provide some information.  Why?  So the people who are working hard to GIVE you your free application can communicate with you, can get feedback and can inform of you new developments.

And at the end of the day, what is the cost of that reservation?  And what did you gain from that registration?  In many cases, open solutions result in fairly significant cost savings or allow you to get something you may not have been able to afford.  What are those savings?  What is the ROI on the newly gained functionality?  What price can you place on the free and open solution?  

A registration process in many cases.  Small price to pay.

Last question:  When is the last time that you, avid user of free software, gave back to the creators in some way?  Giveback takes many forms and often can be as simple as a thank you email.  Most of us are in this because we have a dream that we are following.  And you have nothing if you don't have dreams.

LinkedIn - Discovering the Value of Community

Like many people, I have a profile on Linkedin.com and I have a few recommendations.  I didn't full understand LinkedIN and the potential it had for me until I learned about the groups.  LinkedIN groups offer individuals the ability to join a larger body of people interested in the same subjects as you.  You can start discussion in your groups, email members, etc.  

It is really the discussions that interest me most as I have the ability to introduce a topic and get a ton of community feedback.  Feedback from both business and potential clients that gives me better insight into the market from both sides.  My first discussion post resulted in over 30 thoughtful replies and the feedback and knowledge gained will certainly enter my business and strategy.

I highly recommend joining some groups on LinkedIn and creating your own.  I have joined the Internation Society for Technology in Eduation (ISTE), Technology in Education,  K12 Tech and EdNet.   Obviously some groups are better than others and you willrealize that as you start to participate.

Another great feature of LinkedIn is the abiity to ask questions of the general population and get answers.  It is very simply getting free help and consulting, often time from experts.  Great stuff.  Check it out.