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It's Not My Job... Date: Thu, 23 Nov 1995 Hi folks, I want to share with you reflections from a meeting convened by Gwen Solomon of the Department of Education in Washington last week. The discussions were entitled "the Future of Networking Technologies for Learning" and involved a number of leading writers in the field of educational networking (ultimately you'll be able to view the resulting Whitepaper when it's done). During the course of the meeting, I took notes, relating to the topic areas, but also kept a folder for "miscellaneous ideas" and soon found a common thread that pervaded the discussions, but seemed not to belong to any of them. In addressing the challenges facing any effort to extend the experience of network learning into every classroom, there was no shortage of obstacles to be overcome. However, the person identifying the problem always seemed to require action being taken by someone else. At a certain point, I could no longer contain my consternation, and offered the following: Our individual usefulness in terms of moving ahead towards equitable access and effective use of technology seems to be tested by our reaction to the statement: "it's not my job." Some people making that statment feel they've arrived at the end of the conversation. This simple statement of "fact" allows them to go on to other things, meeting responsibilities for which they may be held personally accountable. Others take the statement as a starting point, replacing the period following "it's not my job" with a comma, and the idea "but I know what I know, and I'm willing to help." The gatherings of such people on the Internet give me much hope for our collective future. Only when many of us, whose jobs consist of an entire spectrum of activity, decide to go beyond our mandates will the very important work that is "nobody's job" finally begin to get done. This will require new ways of working and collaborating without violating personal and professional boundaries. The technical problems of networking have been solved for over a decade; the next decade will revolve around the human problems, or so it seems. This will require wholeshare exchange of timely information and experience (perhaps crafting a new dictionary entry for "wholeshare"). The medium is available for us to begin such efforts, the need is clearly established. All that remains is for emergent efforts to bear fruit, that others can learn from, be encouraged by, and use to help them add their efforts to reach goals that everyone wants, but are "nobody's job". "But I know what I know, and I'm willing to help" As each participant at the meeting introduced themselves and their work, I felt like I was visiting the redwood forest again, small and in awe of towering achievements. I heard of projects, practices and tools that I'd barely dreamed of (but it didn't take me long to figure out how I could use these once they become available!). I sensed a deep pool of knowledge that I knew others would treasure, if only it could be made widely accessible. Furthermore, the builders of this knowledge are the greatest treasure of all...blending their writings and the possibility of conversing with them about reactions to their writings as the ideas are applied to local challenges is the new paradigm for effective use of the Internet. As we talked, we became more excited, and then suddenly, more discouraged. Our heightened perceptions turned to the social problems facing people who are yet to imagine connecting to the Internet, the benefits of lifelong learning, or even how think of a livelihood in the "information age" when crime, unemployment and a host of other survival issues loom large. How can we even think that networking will solve these problems? No society has yet done so. Margaret Riel pointed the way, as far as I was concerned, with her observation that networks don't change anything; it is people who create transformation, and towards that end, networks can be very useful tools. Now, her vision has become incorporated into my personal "I know what I know" statement, and I'm encouraged to press on into the unknown armed with a bit of her light. Everyday on the Internet, someone asks for help. Somewhere, a hard working person takes the time to "go outside their job" and offer up some of "what they know"; sometimes they find that they can increase "what they know" by helping a stranger through uncharted territory. This has been called "the Internet ethos", and it pervades OII. How can we make this tendancy, already part of our culture, so reliably present that it can sustain a large scale influx of new, needy people? How can we broaden participation so that help will come, regardless of how narrow the focus of need? How can we expand the focus of our professional relationships to embrace the emerging realities the Internet is fostering, so that "our job" more nearly reflects the best use of our talents? I look forward to discovering answers to these puzzles together... Ferdi |
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