Better Education Now

You can find lots of chatter about the need to make schools better. Some will link it to more funds. Others will say that we need innovative techniques. The truth may sit in between these ideas. However, I propose that there are some ideas that can be initiated now that will have minimal cost, but useful impact on education.

Teacher--blog thy community.

Asynchronous learning--a fancy way of saying, give students a chance to learn when they are not in front of the teacher. A blog provides the teacher a chance to share information with students that they can refer back to at any time they have internet access. In addition, a blog provides an opportunity to share information with parents as well. They can keep up on lesson plans or special requests (upcoming field trips, special learning experiences) without coming to the class.

While there are many sources for free blogs, like this one (Blogger), there are also blogs that specialize in working with the educational community, like Edublogs.

For those who are concerned about families that have limited resources, most public libraries have free internet access with your free library card. Some businesses have computers and interent access for little or no cost. If there is a will, there is a way. Is there a will to get to the internet? These sorts of information sources might encourage some families to access the internet and learn together.

RUTE Knowledge - Research Used, Tactics Evolved

If you need new ideas about ways to innovate, do a little market research. Talk to people that have a similar demographic as your students. If you teach 3rd graders, talk to some 3rd graders. Find out what they like to do outside of school and how they spend their pleasure time. These same ideas apply if you teach GED to 30 somethings with families.

If it's the kids and Club Penguin, the adults and Monopoly, or the seniors and water workouts, there are lots of potential commonalities that can be explored between what I do and what I learn.

http://www.clubpenguin.com/

http://www.monopoly.com/

http://www.aarp.org/health/healthyliving/articles/water_workouts.html

Bringing elements of your students' personal interests into your lessons will give them a personalized flair that allows them a better chance to stick with your class.

Innovate lessons with current technology

When many people think of adding technology to education, often we think of significant investments for new technology that our teachers don't know how to use. It is usually much wiser to start with simple innovative ideas that use technology that is easily available to most people right now. Some teaching techniques may stand the test of time, but they could be improved with newer technology.

Consider a high school educational scavenger hunt. Instead of hiding things all over an area for them to find and bring back, let the students take pictures of the items with mobile phones or digital cameras. No need to wait for pictures to develop. Easy to compare different interpretations of the goal based on these pictures. In the end, students could print the pictures and create collages OR post their video diary to a website or blog. Old ideas can have a new twist with technology that is common now.

Have you checked the podcast options available for your MP3/4 player? Have you gotten insight on an advanced topic from experts around the country? Have you considered text messaging as an improvement to the game of telephone? Today's teaching innovations are more cost effective if you can apply yesterday's technology innovations.

N - O - V8

There are difficulties with the economy, education, and other areas of life. One of the common themes I hear is that innovation will make it better. While I believe that innovation is the way to a better future, I do wonder how much we support the efforts to innovate.

BusinessWeek had an interesting article on innovation and the role of government.

While I question the need for more bureaucracy, I could see an expanded opportunity to actively encourage more innovation through the Departments of Commerce and Education. Seems like the government is already bankrolling some nonpartisan efforts on innovation.

Educationally, professionally, or personally those who innovate are less common. In the development of innovation they are likely to be less appreciated. It is only with the confirmation of success that society gives credit for innovation.

Think about your TV recordings. Did digital TV recording start in the late 1990s? Think again--it's middle aged!

There are businesses that do a great job of turning innovation into products, services, and profits. They change the game in ways that create greater prosperity and convenience. Fast Company tracks and recognizes innovative businesses annually.

Let's roll those innovation thoughts over to K-12 education. Once you have the basics, how should your education evolve? We will get into more of these ideas in future postings. We see examples of educational innovation in people that challenge the educational status quo. I think about charter schools and new private schools and new types of assignments that are unfamiliar to their parents from their time in the same level of school. For now, let focus on personal uniqueness as a route ot innovation.

Standardized testing usually doesn't measure your capacity to create innovative solutions. Innovators tend to use common ideas in uncommon ways. Think about ways that you are uncommon.

• How did you develop those unique skills?
  
• How do you use your uncommon skills?
  
• What innovative things do you use now that you did not touch a few years ago?

For example, mobile phones are commonplace now. The commercially available portable phone was an innovation. When they were big and bulky, they were new. Once the price and size shrunk, they gained more widespread acceptance. The smaller, smarter phone was another step. Blackberrys, iPhones, Google phones and their apps are innovations that feed off each other and challenge the innovators to dig deeper.

Sometimes business innovation is simply repackaging something you have already done in a way that is more publicly acceptable. Let's get it started?

Why I Don't Twitter

For the mobile community that hangs out a lot, Twitter is probably one of several useful ways to answer the question, what are you doing?...right now!

Nowdays there are other methods to do the same thing. I saw Loopt on an iPhone commercial. Seems like a more personal version of that localized personal update...and it works on Blackberry and the G1 as well.

If you are an extrovert with a ton of friends, these may work for you. I doubt the introverts are trying to keep up with 100s of pals or want 382 of your best buds to start tracking your movements.

I'm sort of old school...text messaging is fine.

Do I really want to admit what I am doing throughout the day. This commercial highlights why it is sometimes best to not Twitter.

After all, do you want trackable, step by step personally incriminating evidence of what led to the wassup sequel?

I can't get no...satisfaction?

The other day, I was in a fast food business that focuses on chicken. There was a customer who was not happy with her order. She explained that it was not done enough for her. As the issue was handed over to the shift manager, she checked the chicken. The shift manager explained that the chicken was fully cooked and she had cooked it herself.

The customer wanted another order. The shift manager explained how she cooked the chicken for the required time and that all of the chicken was similarly prepared. She offered to refund the customer's money. The customer insisted that she wanted another order of chicken. The manager gave her the option of a refund or keeping her original order.

I was very interested in this exchange, because of that old (false and incomplete) adage--the customer is always right. While the customer is always right about his/her expectations, that does not change the reality of the business. Unless the manager believed this was a bad piece of chicken, giving away more of the same doesn't make the customer happy, it just makes the restaurant less profitable. Good for the shift manager.

All customer satisfaction is not equal. In some cases what we expect is not even close in different industries. The average level of service we expect from the cable company is far different than our expectations from an internet retailer.

Before you paint me with the "doesn't get customer satisfaction" brush. let me say that it is important to deliver a high level of service to your customers. Doing so should get you more business if you understand how to make their experience a memorable one.

However, if your best is not good enough for them, you have to make a business decision. Are we going to get better or do we believe our level of accomplishment is good enough? If you have no plans to get better, target customers that like your level of accomplishment and quickly get the others out of your business.

It is better to not have customers that you will not satisfy, than to keep them around. The more they show up, the more your happy customers start to wonder if their level of approval is appropriate.