What to Change? What to Change Into? How Do We Decide?--Proactive vs Reactive Change

Organizations are faced with important decisions.  What needs to be changed?  What do we need to change into?  How do we decide about the change?

There are many processes involved with change.  I have developed some tools that can help organizations explore the answers to these questions.  They are available for purchase on eBay.  The first is the Business Snapshot and the second is the Business Improvement Survey.  (Find them both--including links for eBay searches--on the Services page for DrM-Resources.)

How do we decide about the change?  Shared vision is important.  If people and organizations do not move through the trust-building steps required to come to a shared vision (slide 11), planned change will be hard (if not impossible) to implement.  When more than one person is involved, people need to move through the Organizational Change Curve (slide 9).

While these tools and concepts can help organizations facilitate change, the basic ideas raised initially need to be dealt with and a shared vision formed about the change for planned change to make progress.  We can sometimes see change happening around us and react to it--positively, negatively, or neutrally.  It is usually more effective to be proactive about change and to develop a plan to make the continuous process improvements needed to make organizations more effective.

iPods and MP3 players for Education

This post came as part of a LinkedIn dialog in the "Faculty Room" group. Go to the link to view the group and all of the dialogs.

"iPods as Reading Tools" by Linda Bomar, L. (2006, May-June). iPods as reading tools. Principal, NAESP.org, pp. 52-53

Don't Turn 'Em Off, Tune 'Em In! (2007, September). NEA Today, 26(1), 17. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1360186081).

I work with technology with both adults and school children. A literacy coach worked with the school district I was in last year and actually got the students to use text messages to improve their writing skills--and to get them totally hooked into his class.

Students love to explore the technology and, at various ages, many love to find porn or anything off-task--true in school and at work. Let's look at a "begin with the end in mind" perspective. If students don't learn to use technology appropriately in school, what do you think they'll do on the job after they finish school?

In the schools I worked in most recently, we did not have enough computers for all students. I had a variety of tasks for students to do on computers (see http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/). The school had firewalls and monitoring programs so that, for the most part, students had access to what they needed to work on.

While iPods and MP3 players were not used in school, I had students who read at a 3rd grade level able to quote the lyrics of some favorite songs. At the end of the year I was working with eAudiobooks--downloadable books that they could have on their iPods or MP3 players next to their music. The next task is to get them to listen to the books.

Technology is a part of our lives--whether or not we actually own the technology. MP3 players are becoming more and more widespread at lower and lower cost. When we can use the technology as a learning tool, it becomes much more powerful--and even becomes perceived by students as more relevant to their lives.

We do need to educate students and parents about how to be "safe" using technology. (See my "Learning Passport" wiki site--a link on the site I referred to earlier.)

Some observers report that our students have dwindling attendion spans. Our key as educators is to create engaging activities that students want to focus their attention on--and then make the engagement something they value and want to continue. Technology can help--if educators take the time to find out how to use it as a support tool rather than a distraction.