Sorry, I just love science...don't f'ing love it.

I love Science. I just don’t have to swear to love it. A heads up that this post uses some foul language…not something I normally do in public forums.

Something has been really disturbing me lately. I open up Facebook and see cool science related pics and stories only to see it from a page called “I F***ing Love Science.” 

Now, I am not some guy that shrinks from the gratuitous use of swear words…especially my ‘beloved’ F word. I love it…apparently as much as some people love science. The difference is I don’t use it in public places and I especially don’t use it when kids might hear it. To use the F word is trashy, low class, and shows a serious lack of vocabulary. Yup, I own that. Just love it too much to stop using it. Turns “moron” and “jackass” into something truly special when I am driving. So what’s the problem? Problem is that people on Facebook, over 18 million of them, are f'ing loving science on their Facebook pages in view of children. Of my over 20 friends on Facebook that f'ing love science enough to like the page, most of them have children (even grandchildren for some), most of those have children on Facebook…and about half are educators. Yikes.

I don’t blame the creator of the site. Is a cool idea to make science hip and something people talk about and share. I find the language objectionable, but I don’t fault Elise Andrew, the 20-something that made it. I do fault the people that are making it mainstream and making it okay to use the F word in polite society. I wanted to find out why this is a "thing" so looked it up. It became clear to me when I read a Mashable article why this is so great for some people. An example is the Museum of Natural Science for holding a “I F***ing Love Science” event where people got to meet Ms. Andrew. The article mentions a high school science teacher that was screaming “I f***ing love science!” while lined up at the museum. Seriously? Would she say that in her classroom? No. But the popularity of the site allowed her to break the rules…something that this high school science teacher might not be used to doing. When is the last time she screamed “f'ing” (or any variation of the F word) in public? But this was science! It’s okay if its educational, right? I am sure people walking by that had nothing to do with the event loved hearing some lady screaming the F word. Is like going to a professional wrestling match instead of a museum. What's next? Will the Museum of Natural History hold the “I F***ing Love Dinosaurs” event if it becomes popular on Facebook? Perhaps the Smithsonian can follow up with a new push for interest in aerospace with “Airplanes are the S***!” event.Then more educators can feel cool and edgy by "liking" it on Facebook, too.

What is really sad to me is the Facebook page of “I F***ing Love Science” has 18 million followers and the companion site “Science is Awesome” has 10,000. Guess it is not cool to love science unless you get to drop f bombs.

Travel Blog: Part 1, The Computer Bag

I travel a lot. LOT. Usually well over 150,000 airline miles a year…and usually to places that don’t have a Best Buy or Walmart near by…so I have gotten pretty good at packing stuff. I am also a “carry-on” guy for a couple of reasons, too. #1, I really like rolling on & rolling off and not waiting for my luggage. #2, I fly enough to know that my bags don’t always come with me. Some friends asked me to put together a list of things and show them all that I take with me, so here it is...

Here is a pic of my travel setup. 

I will go 3 weeks at a time with this (actually typing this on the plane returning from Saipan after almost 3 weeks). Of course, that is not 3 weeks of clothes, but it is 3 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, undergarments, socks, 2 pairs of shorts, flip flops, running shoes, and toiletries (find drop off laundry places when you travel, too). It is also my computer bag (top) and that is where this blog focuses.

I am an instructional technologist, meaning I get to do a lot of cool educational technology things. It also means that I have to carry a lot technology stuff. Technology stuff is heavy. So, I got a pretty good bag to carry it all in, plus with room for a change of clothes & toiletries when I am on puddle jumpers that make me check my luggage that is normally carry-on or gate check. My favorite bag for this is the North Face Surge II. 

It has a padded laptop sleeve with integrated tablet sleeve. Fits my 15” Macbook Pro and iPad with no problem. There is also a LARGE middle section where I keep my technology cube, computer speaker, a plastic file folder (to hold travel receipts) and a magazine if flying out of the U.S. (so I read something at take off and landing). It will easily accommodate my toiletry kit and a change of clothes with no problem. The front section is great. Zippered pockets to hold my travel documents, pen holders, key holder, and room for my sunglasses, camera, stuff I like to grab quickly. The front is awesome, too. Two zippered pockets: one I put in Cliff Bars & Special K protein bars for the flights with no (or crappy food), layovers/delays in airports with no restaurants, etc. The other one is my computer charger and iPhone/iPad charger…easy to grab and  put away. One side of the pack has a bottle holder and the other side a zippered pocket where I carry a ultralight jacket for cold airports & planes, as well as weather situations.

So while this reads as a review of the North Face Surge II, my point is find a pack that will hold your stuff, is comfortable to carry, and works for you. I reviewed a bunch of packs online, but actually went to an REI store and tried a bunch on and checked them out in person. I went in to buy something else I liked online and walked out with the North Face Surge II from REI.

So here it is…opened up in all its glory on my hotel bed. Pens, a flashlight (always carry at least one…I carry 3), Eagle Creek padded packing cube, REI toiletry kit (I use as a medical kit), Computer speaker, camera, headphones, energy bars, & tissues.

Here is another one with the bag & jacket laid out on the bed.

The piece of equipment I take with me EVERYWHERE is the RoadTools Podium Pad.

Is just two pieces of plastic that keep my computer elevated enough to type comfortable, keep it from heating up on a bed or couch, and I don’t worry about spilled coffees or sodas on tables. Oddly enough, with all my gadgets, this is what people seem to think is really cool. I use it in the office, as well as on the road.

See how thin it is! I guess it is pretty cool. Was $12 bucks, too…and that is cool :D

Oh…buy a can opener/bottle opener and take it with you everywhere. I have been stuck places with the options of really, really, really crappy restaurant food or canned food, but had no can opener.
Even worse is buying bottled beer and not having an opener (of course didn’t stop me from drinking the beer, but the opening process delayed it enough to really annoy me.

Back to real stuff. The Eagle Creek packing cube is pretty awesome.
Holds all my adapters, camera charger, 1 of the 3 flashlights (power is out many places I go), extra flashlight batteries (not kidding), business cards, spare computer charger, and even a mini-surge projector with multiple plugs. See those strips at the bottom of the cube? Velcro. Love the packing cube as the Velcro stick to it, as well as keeping my cables nice and neat. I carry extra as I am always forgetting one or giving one away (messy cables annoy me). Mine is an older version, but here is what I think the updated version is from REI.

Okay…med kit.  Very important if you travel a lot, especially without access to a Walgreens. I carry a variety of over the counter meds like pain meds, cold & flu, sinus, allergy, diarrhea, etc. A mini medicine cabinet. I also carry a prescription medication for travelers diarrhea. In almost of 20 years of biz-related travel and more than my fair share of street food in sketchy places, I have only needed it for myself once. I also carry antibiotic cream, Band-Aids, gauze, medical tape, etc for any scrapes or cuts (I am outdoorsy, too). Here it is from REI.

Lastly is my travel wallet that has RFID protection built in (scammers can’t scan me and get my card & passport info). Here it is from REI...says it is a woman's wallet. Argh, but I didn't care. Is too good to let a label stop me from using it. I do have a TON of travel related cards...and is packed in my backpack most of the time.
More importantly than that, it holds all my travel info, rewards cards, passport, money, etc. Fits nicely in one of the zippered internal pockets in the backpack, too. This one is from PacSafe (bought it...yes, at

That’s pretty much it! This setup gets me through professional developments, meetings, hotel work sessions, etc on an every day basis and also on major long hauls. Yes, is a North Face, REI, & Eagle Creek ad in a way...but all good stuff. The only thing missing for me is a USB battery for long flights to keep my iPad going…and my very thoughtful daughter got me one for my birthday! (don’t have it yet, so no pic, but here it is: EasyAcc® Ultra Slim Dual USB Portable Power Bank)

Does the barbed wire on your school's firewall face in or out?

I am in the IT field. Before you stop reading, my IT is the good kind. Instructional Technology. The other kind…the more common kind…Information Technology is the necessary evil for my job. We exist in a sort of an intertwined Ying & Yang of technology...except most of the time there is no balance. The Ying of information technology overwhelms the Yang of instructional technology. More often than naught I see IT departments locking systems to a point that the barbed wire on the networks faces in, not out. I envision the sad avatars of teachers & students clinging to fences topped with razor wire trying to peek at what lies on the outside...beyond the all encompassing firewall.

Why? Why do they do this? I think nefarious reasons are part of it for some of them...power and control. But I believe most the time they are managed by people that just don't understand technology. If my job is to ensure network security and there is no oversight, I am going to lock everything down. So who is to blame? Leadership. I see it in schools a LOT. Leader doesn't understand technology so relies on IT Director for all recommendations. The result is a technology system that resembles NSA level security. So unless your school requires Top Secret security clearance, you might want to ask some questions (of your leadership, as IT will most likely say 'no').

1: Issue: Social Media is blocked.

IT answer: time waster, clogs bandwidth, student safety concerns, and of course, network security

It is frustrating to travel to schools and see powerful learning tools like YouTube, Twitter, and even TeacherTube blocked! Of my beefs with IT, this one is in my opinion, is the only valid one they have for doing what they do...to a point. There are mean & nasty things out on the Internet...and we need to protect kids. Also, in schools with limited bandwidth, opening YouTube and other bandwidth-heavy sites can knock network speeds to a crawl. The answer, however, is not locking everything. Remember, most IT Departments will do what is easiest for them, not what is best for you.

Compromise: If your IT (Information Technology) is also your Instructional Technology...yikes. Instructional Technology should always be the driver and at the least have some input. If your instructional technology/C&I departments don't have input you might as well stop reading here and wait for next week's article on working around an obtuse IT Department. If you DO have some input...easy fix. EVERY Internet-capable device has what is called a MAC Address (no, not Apple). This is a unique number to just that one piece of hardware. On a closed network, teacher computers can be opened up! Imagine that...being able to use the tools your students use in the actual classroom! If a teacher can't be trusted to use the Internet in a responsible manner in the classroom, then there is a bigger issue here than access.

2: Issue Off-Campus Network Access

IT Answer: network security

After 9/11 airports & airlines would use 'it's a security issue, Sir' when they would tell me to comply with something that they could not answer with a set policy or procedure...it was a catch-all phrase that was meant to intimidate into compliance. The same is true with IT. Ask any question that they don't have a good answer for...or that they don't want to answer since it weakens their case and you will most likely hear, 'No way! That will comprise the network!' Really? Ask them specifics sometime and wait for the sputtering. The term 'information technology' has always bugged me for IT, too. Most are not information managers...experts in information management systems, but just network & hardware people. Hanging a hard drive off a server in 2014 is NOT information management...it is a shared hard drive (congratulations on your 1995 technology achievement). Teachers want to access information off campus. Period. Secure technologies...many that are free (like Google Education) have been around for a long, long time. Making a teacher sit in their classroom to upload grades, lesson plans, etc is ridiculous.

Compromise: There probably isn't a compromise for schools with leaders weak in technology and a dominant IT Department. Chances are if there are still site-based servers running your website, email, document storage, etc., your leadership doesn't know a whole lot about tech, and your IT Department is very good at maintaining job security. If this isn't the case, a migration to a cloud-based system might be possible. Google Education has been the bane of many bloated and controlling IT Departments that soon found many of their positions irrelevant.

3: Issue: No BYOD on the School Network

IT Answer: network security

Bring Your Own Device. Something that is quite common in the business world, but not so much in education. I know that my personal laptop was always WAY better than any school issued computer…plus, it has all my stuff and I am comfortable with it. Plus, add to that tablets, smart phones and other network devices that teachers have (and use)…why block these? Student data, organizational data, etc. are all important and for much of it there are legal considerations...but...wait for it...yes, it can be managed. I am not talking about access to financials, etc., but just allowing a computer on the dang network! That is what wearing the big boy or girl pants of being a network administrator should be about…giving safe access, not restricting it.

Compromise: If I am a teacher with some giant, ancient desktop anchored to my desk and I have some sleek new HP Tablet or MacBook Air...what do I want to use? What am I going to be productive with? Again, this is not working in a secure government agency...so this is just a pure power & control move on IT. If they can't secure the network by providing different channels to allow even 'guest' access, I would question the reasoning (& their competence).

The following paints IT in a rather bad light...and that has (unfortunately) been my experience . This is quite natural as the two ITs are like Window & Mac, Bears & Packers, Elves & Dwarves...not likely to see eye-to-eye. If you have a great IT Department in your school, count yourself lucky! (...just guessing you are an Apple or Google district) If not, take action! There are constructive ways to approach leadership around this...drafting a document with your colleagues on how the pros outweigh the cons. How does NOT doing what you need done impact student learning or business operations? Chances are the leadership just has never heard another side. However, if they dig in...no problem. Stand by for next week's article on IT workarounds...how to tunnel under the barbed wire to get out to the big wide world of information & resources.

EdCanvas: Presentation Tool Extraordinaire

EdCanvas is one of those neat tools I stumbled upon after meeting the dudes at instaGrok. They said (basically) if you like instaGrok, you should really check this out, too! I did...it it is awesome! My work has me in a lot of schools around the world (both physically and telepresence) and I work with a LOT of teachers K-12...and sometimes all K-12 together (always good fun). Inevitably, a great instructional tool will be loved by elementary but hated by middle and high school, or vice versa. Is difficult in that kind of setting to please everyone and/or make everything (specifically) relevant to everyone (the usual extremes of "hard to please" are high school math and early elementary teachers). Rarely do I find a tool that pleases everybody...EdCanvas is one of those rare tools.

Why is that? For most teachers there are 5 things they want to see:
#1: Free
#2: Easy to use
#3: Applicable to their curriculum
#4: Easy to Track/View/Store projects
#5: Free (just making sure)

EdCanvas is all of these things. There are wonderful online presentation tools out there like Prezi, Google Docs, etc, but EdCanvas is different. Not better...different. It is ANOTHER tool that can be used in the classroom. As a former speech teacher (among other things), I LOVE presentation tools. PowerPoint, Keynote and on and on (I was an original Aldus Persuasion user, too...yes kids...I am old). Way back I was a HyperStudio "power user" and used it with elementary, middle and high school kids. Teaching it to educators, it was the only multimedia tool that I ever used where all (okay, most) K-12, multi-subject teachers loved it and saw the relevance for the classroom. That was until EdCanvas. Doing workshops around instructional strategies using technology are pretty fun...love showing teachers technologies they may or may not be using, but linking it to best practices. Sometimes the tech takes over more than I would like, though, as some people don't quite "get it" as fast as others. Not so with EdCanvas. Many workshops and many diverse tech levels...one common denominator: teachers LOVE EdCanvas. The best part is they learn it, create with it, and present with it...all in under 30 minutes.

So let's do a quick tour...head on over to www.edcanvas.com

 

Register for a free login...make one, or use a Facebook or Google account. 

Realizing that my last post (instaGrok) was a little TOO descriptive on using software, EdCanvas's Amy Lin (who is very helpful & responsive, btw) already has a nice tutorial:

This program is RIDICULOUSLY EASY. It will create multiple slides with clicking and dragging from Youtube, Google (images and web), Flickr, web links, files...even linking to Dropbox and Google Drive accounts! There is a place to save bookmarks, too, although would love to see another button to link to my Diigo account (in case you are listening EdCanvas). 

I love EdCanvas. (Have I said that?) I can create separate areas for each class (or workshop, division, etc) to keep a portfolio of student work. Plus, can send out the links (via Twitter, Facebook, etc) so parents can easily see what is going on, too. As a teacher, I can use it to create resources students can watch inside/outside of class (or Flipped Class). Most important to me, I can use it with students and let them express themselves by creating. Great stuff.

I would love to hear what you think about EdCanvas so please leave a comment or hit me on Twitter. I am sure EdCanvas would love to hear what you think, too. Shoot them an email or connect on Twitter.

Here are some cool EdCanvas projects to check out, too:
Photosynthesis
2012 Elections (for Flipped Classroom)
Parts of Speech Review (School House Rock)

instaGrok: Great Classroom Research Tool

instaGrok! 

instaGrok? instaWhat???

This is my favorite new search engine tool for the classroom. A search engine that graphically displays the data AND creates an automatic journal for students. Nice. Yes, the classroom component is $35, but there is also the free component, too. I would like to say I stumbled upon it with one of my many forays into educational technology...but I didn't. My boss sent a group of us an email asking if we had seen it. I had not. Within seconds I was hooked, as it is so multi-sensory and engaging. Perfect for an ADD instructional technologist with a short attention span.

So what is this thing?  How do I use it? Pretty dang simple. The website is www.instagrok.com Although a registration is not required, it is free (and keeps your stuff). The search bar asks me politely, "What would you like to learn about?" Hawaii is one of my island homes, so I did a search for Hawaii...

It then works on it...the process called, "Grokking"...

...and Voila!

 

On the right there are a series of descriptions (let's blow that up a bit to see it better). Notice the targeted advertisement for Hawaii, too. Hey, it is the free section of the site...people gots bills, right? Pay the cash and get rid of it ;)

This is more of the traditional search engine display, but still organized in a very easy to use format. Key facts are listed, but so are websites, videos, images, etc. What I really like about instaGrok is the graphic search feature.

The big yellow ball is Hawaii...the little yellow balls are the main points that came up under Hawaii. Surfing. Each ball is manipulable and can be dragged around the screen. They are also clickable, too. I like surfing, so I clicked on the yellow surfing ball...

BAM! New key facts, and the graph splits off into into a new subset. Now I can use the pin tool to add websites, key facts, videos, etc to my graph.

That can get overwhelming pretty quick (only images are on this image). Now how I can pull all this information together and make sense of it? The Journal! The second tab at the top takes me into an online word processor that has automatically added everything I pinned.

I can move things around, add my own information, and when I am finished can email to myself, print it, even add to social media. With the classroom account, students can send direct to Edmodo, as well. WOW! 

Very cool stuff...and was all way faster than what it took you to read this far (which hopefully wasn't long either). I would really recommend giving this a try. No, it is not for the "in-depth, serious, find obscure information on the web"person, but it is great for students learning to research. I like to use it when presenting information to colleagues, as well. Can just send a instaGrok link. The company founders, Kirill Kireyev and Andrew Bender are great guys and very responsive to suggestions on how to improve instaGrok for the classroom. Check out their intro video...
...and some cool user created instaGroks;
Nano Technology
Black Death (Bubonic Plague)
Google Glass

Let me (and them) know what you think! Follow instaGrok on Twitter, too

CyberBullying or CyberAssualt?

A warning, gentle readers...this post is LONG. It is more essay than blog post. It is an important issue for me...as an educator, as a parent, as a global citizen. As one who was bullied and one who bullied. It needs to stop. 

Cyberbullying is a term bandied about, as bullying is a prominent issue in education now. Kids were able to move from schoolyard beatings and stuffing garbage cans with the smaller and weaker to the internet. Oh, and now it isn’t about the biggest and strongest, it can be anyone with connectivity (mobile phone, smart phone, computer, etc) Ah, the joys of technology. So while it is easy to dish out punishments for school infractions, what happens with the attacks are outside of school…not on school grounds; not on school computers; not having anything to do with school, other than the people involved attend school? A big struggle for education systems. I am a big proponent of bullying awareness programs (I have been through training, as well), and believe it is important for schools to address ANY forms of bullying (including teachers). Bullying can range from simple peer pressure all the way to physical and/or sexual assault. Pretty easy to figure out when something physical has taken place (less so with sexual harassment, but there are at least guidelines to follow), the police can get involved if needed, and doesn’t matter if it happened on school grounds or a mall parking lot. Cyberbullying is a lot tougher to figure out. I would argue, that like physical assaults, cyberattacks are matters for law enforcement. I would also argue that cyberbullying is not limited to school age kids testing their limits and not quite understanding the damage they are doing to others…it is something adults play around in, and even news organizations participate.

Let’s start out with the most disgusting case of cyberbullying (is why I think it should be renamed cyberassualt) that I can think of…the case of a young 13 year old girl named Megan Meier. 

In 2006, MySpace reigned as the supreme social networking site for millions of teens and young adults. Although the age to join was 14, Megan, with the permission of her parents, got signed up for an account. For a child with a history of depression and suicidal thoughts (she was in counseling), it seemed like a great way for her to connect with friends outside of school. Soon she got an invitation become friends with a good looking 16 year old boy named “Josh” and an online relationship began. Josh eventually got very mean with Megan (after a long relationship of being kind) and sent a last message to Megan that read, “Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.” Megan committed suicide. That would have been a horrible story about teen relationships gone bad and a terrible loss of a 13 year old girl, as well as a horrific burden for a 16 year old boy to carry the rest of his life. EXCEPT…it was a 47 year old woman…a friend of the Meier family…that created a fake account and pretended to be Josh. Seriously? This messed up woman did this to a kid? Lori Drew garnered national attention with this and MySpace and cyberbullying became a major news item (and Texas cheerleader moms thank her for pulling the attention away from them). After a drawn out legal battle, Ms. Drew was charged and convicted by a jury, but had it overruled by the judge. No jail time/no punishment (from the courts…remember Lori Drew, though. I come back to her in a bit…)

Since 2006 MySpace is passe’ and it is now all about Facebook and the issues followed. In 2010 a 15 year old immigrant from Ireland, Phoebe Prince, killed herself after being cyberbullied. 

The young girl was the target of hazing from girls that were allegedly upset that she had dated an older student. Regular teenage crap, right? Sure…bullying, but something kids learn to deal with as they grow up. Mean girls were around long before the Internet. Except these mean girls did both physical assaults and cyberassualts. Add to that when the meanness continues past the school day and involves not just a few people, but an online community that can include most students in the school? Well, for Phoebe Prince it meant severe depression enough to end her young life. Nine teenagers (thugs) were charged in the case, and the prosecuting attorney called Prince's suicide "the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm…The investigation revealed relentlessactivity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make itimpossible for her to remain at school…The bullying, for her, became intolerable." In addition, two of the older boys were charged with statutory rape. Sounds like a pretty clear case. Had these students been adults, sounds like physical assault, threats of physical assault, harassment would be enough to convict. For the two older thugs charged with statuary rape, they WERE adults at the time. Well, Massachusetts didn’t think so. Charges against 4 ofthe 9 were dropped and of the 5 charged, none received jail time (just probation). Justice?

 The latest high profile cyberbullying suicide was an 18year old Rutgers student, Tyler Clementi. 

Mr. Clementi was a shy freshman student who was secretly recorded in a homosexual encounter by his roommate, Dharun Ravi. Ravi used a webcam to stream the incident out over the net. Hell of guy, eh? Funny stuff, right? He posted on his Twitter account: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay” Tyler didn’t think it was so funny. He was so humiliated by the exposure that he posted a goodbye message on Facebook andjumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge. This was 2010. It is back in the news now, because Ravi was just sentenced in the case. He got 30days jail time. 30 days jail time, even though he was convicted on all 15 counts brought against him and even though the judge critized Ravi during the trial for never apologizing or even showing remorse. Were the judges hands tied and 30 days was the max he could give? No. He could have gotten much worse (including deportation). Even the parents testimony that from the start, Ravi was rude to their son didn’t sway the judge at sentencing, and was apparent that the court was more concerned with Ravi’s future than punishment fittingthe crime. Cyberbullying? Having ANY encounter streamed out on the web (romantic or not) is a clear cyberassault in my book. 

Rhavi and his lawyer very pleased with the results at sentencing. Scumbags

Judge Glenn Berman...you are pathetic.

Sexting. In addition to being distribution of child pornography (even if done by children), it can be bullying, as well. If you aren’t aware of the term, it refers to sending sexual messages or sexual pictures through mobile phones. Most phones have cameras…texts can carry pictures…why not send naked pictures of yourself to a loved one? As we have learned from high profile celebrity sex tapes, those things always remain private, right? Duh.  It is pretty obvious when you get adults involved that there is a crime. Last week a high school’s teacher of the year was charged with sending a 15year old girl pictures of his genitals and encouraging her to send sexual pictures of herself.  He had started an online relationship with the student through…wait for it…Facebook, that then progressed to sexual images and messages. So this dirt bag is going to go away for a long time won’t ever get a teaching job again. Problem solved for him. What about with kids, though? A recent study shows that sexting is on the rise with not only teens but preteens! How does this relate to bullying? As mentioned earlier, this stuff doesn’t stay with one person. What teenage boy is not going to forward on a picture of a naked girl…even a naked girlfriend? Well, the boy that 13 yearold Hope Witsell sent a sexting picture of her breasts didn’t keep it to himself. 

It went viral through the school. Kids can be cruel, but some went so far to actually create a MySpace page to torment her. The pressure was so intense, the child felt her only option was to kill herself.  Sexting is a clear path to cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying doesn’t just happen in the school yard. Internet vigilantes have taken attacks to a whole other level. Now to be fair, I like some of it. Somebody does something stupid or even illegal…and gets away with. Enter the internet vigilantes to set wrong to right. Like a cyber-cowboy…keyboard a’blazing! My favorite story on I found researching this article…back to the piece of human debris, Lori Drew. The judge may have overturned the jury in convicting her, but the good folks at the website, People You’ll See in Hell, thought differently.  They posted her picture and a very well researched story (including the police report) to show what an utterly disgusting individual Lori Drew actually is…and her picture…picture of her house, etc. 

 Lori Drew is a worthless scumbag. Is this bullying? I hope so.

I guess Lori’s business and community status has really suffered…poor consolation for the family of Megan Meier (who still live four houses away from Drew), but something. So I like stuff like this. My first ever internet vigilante story I remember was the “dog poop lady” of Korea (was actually dog something else, but this is a family blog). I read about the dog poop lady back when it happened. A young woman did not clean up after her dog on the subway…was told to…ignored it…and somebody posted their images online. 

Dog poop lady...and elderly people cleaning it up.

It went viral in Korea (and I actually read about it living on Guam) and the woman was so tormented (people would recognize her in the street) that she quit her job and moved. Okay, had to quit her job and move just because she didn’t clean up after her dog? Well, probably harsh (although, those kind of self-entitled people drive me nuts…and apparently get under the skin of a lot of Koreans, too). It can (and does) go to far, though.

There is also just bullying using the internet that has nothing to do with Internet vigilantes, but do the same approach. Posting embarrassing pictures of people or out of context videos. Another video that went viral was a CaliforniaState University, Northridge student “freaking out” in a library. It is pretty clear that the people that videotaped her were tormenting and encouraging her…and she started yelling in a library during finals week. I hesitated on posting the video, as I think this girl was a victim, but at over 2 million hits, my little blog article isn’t going to make it go “extra viral”. I concur with the “top comment” on YouTube: “I currently go to CSUN and it's finals week right now. I can vouch that although this woman handled the situation badly, she had every right to be upset. Every day I go to the library to study, there is at least one person/group that it extremely obnoxious and inconsiderate of the other 95% of students trying to study. She pays $7000 + a year to study; she should be able to use the library services she has paid for. The other girls sound ignorant and rude” The story also became pretty racist…Asian student acting out, etc, instead of student pissed off that loud people were talking in a library during finals week with no action on the part of the employees of the college. Or even a YouTube-made celebraty like Rebecca Black! The thirteen year old girl that became an Internet sensation with her self-posted video, “Friday.”  She received death threats among the terrible things posted about her. A teenager that just posted a song that somehow got famous. The news is also involved, I think, with a form of cyberbullying. Just yesterday I saw a story posted about a University of Georgia professor arrested for prostitution. Hmmm. Probably news for Georgia, but why a national story? Oh, because the 60’ish male professor was dressed as a woman when he solicited an undercover officer…okay…OH, but there is a picture, too! So this professor, who normally would be an oddity in Georgia, is now an international oddity. Is that fair? Sure it is legal (and sure, I clicked on the link not thinking of this article), but is it right? What about the Texas couple that had their farm dug up on the hunch of a psychic? Police not only moved in on their farm and started digging…but they brought camera crews!  Then…there is one I admit that I really like that is nothing but cyberbullying. People of Walmart. Yikes. I hate to admit it, but this site makes me cry sometimes I am laughing so hard. It is nothing but pictures of pathetic people whose only reason for being posted online is that they are pathetic. Posted for our amusement. Where we used to just laugh in the moment when we see someone like those portrayed (well, those bullies among us laughed), now these folks are distributed for all to see! This one in particular sent me into conniptions of laughter.

Wow.

Okay…funny stuff. Or is it. This is someone’s daughter…perhaps someone’s mother. Certainly there are people that love this woman and there she is…posted on People of Walmart and most certainly somebody will recognize her. Classmates of her grade school age child perhaps? “Your mom is on People of Walmart for back boobs!” Nice. Buzz kill when it is personalized, right? Damn, I hope it is a buzz kill. If not, yes, you are probably a bully. Sure it is legal to post pics of these folks…but again, is it right?

Cyberbullying is a big issue. Bigger than schools…and becoming a big part of our society. Through the Internet people can become instant celebrities…whether they want to or not. There is help out there:

ParentsStruggle with Cyberbullying

WhatEducators need to know about bullying behaviors

“Bully” a Documentary 

Andy's Diigo List on Bullying

Probably the simplest way to stop bullying…cyber or otherwise…treat people like you would like to be treated…online or in person.

Work 2.0

In early 2001 I was introduced to a tool that went on to change the way I thought about knowledge management: Docushare. At that time, I was a young project director of a mid-sized Federal grant, and I had a lot of irons in the fire: I was in the field over 60% of the time, had partner agencies in Micronesia, Hawaii, and the U.S. Mainland, and a lot of reporting to track. This was 2001. Faxes and sending documents FedEx ruled the knowledge management world and emails and PDFs were okay to say, “your signed copy is coming”. All this paper (and there was a lot of it) went into filing cabinets and all the electronic versions of things went on to corporate shared hard drives. If I needed to find a document, I had to hope that the filing system (both physical and electronic) was done in a logical, effective manner. Of course, being in the field over half the time didn’t mean I was immune from reporting. Admin staff had to know where to recover information for reports, and if I was lucky enough to be on the Internet, it was usually dial-up speeds made even slower by going through the corporate VPN. In short, I was hamstrung by the technology. Then, in a meeting with the project’s external evaluators, they pulled up a web page to access the latest report that had been completed in New York a few hours earlier (we were in Hawaii) for us to go over. At that point, I could care less about the report and wanted a demo of this document storage device that was on the web! Docushare. I was in awe. This was years before Google Docs or the other many services available now. Here was a system that would allow multiple users to upload documents to a “shared drive.” Very cool. Much easier and faster than having to go to the corporate hard drive and connect through a very slow VPN…very much like Dropbox, but 7 years earlier.  But wait! There’s more! All the documents were searchable IN THE TEXT…and…wait for it…it tracked multiple revisions. I could now work on reports collaboratively with the team, no matter where any of us happened to be in the world. Security could be layered across folders for different access levels, and it was all secure. If I needed a document from Hawaii that was just mailed in, an admin could scan it through a copier and select a destination folder inside Docushare. It changed the way we did business. More than that, it changed the way we viewed information and information management. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was participating in the flatting of knowledge management.

It is now 2012. Document management systems are the norm, whether it is a school system that has adopted Google Docs, or corporations using improved-upon Docushare (or like) systems. It is taking the old corporate shared hard drives, or even the new cloud-based storage like Dropbox and Google Drive. Knowledge management has changed the way business is done, and some folks are still trying to figure out what happened. How did goods that used to be expensive luxury items (or at least, mid-ranged items) end up in discount stores like Walmart? The call centers down the road that are boarded up…why did that happen? Schools more concerned about making sure every child feels good about themselves, while math and science scores continue to slip farther behind other countries. On a global sense, the world has been continuing to embrace (and understand) the new era of knowledge management, while the United States is slowly starting to awake to it. The irony of it all, is it has all happened (at least, largely in part) to respond to American business.

Breaking it down further, are two articles, The Three Eras of Knowledge Management, a blog article by Nancy Dixon; and A framework for social learning inthe enterprise, a blog article by Harold Jarche. Dixon’s article gives a good summary of knowledge management evolution, and actually corresponds to my own example at the beginning of this article. Going in a timeline from 1995 to 2005, it shows the progression of the “old school” management control of content in 1995, to the transparency of information and content in 2005. A very short 10 year span to change the way businesses manage information. This is not to say ALL businesses have embraced this. Some companies still lag behind with not only technology of knowledge management, but also the paradigm shift to embrace HOW that technology works. It is one thing to put into place the infrastructure to allow for knowledge management in an organization; it is quite another for management to put INTO PLACE knowledge management. I like how Dixon summaries knowledge management as a response to two areas: 1, where knowledge lives within organizations, and 2, what knowledge is important to organizational success. Through an effective knowledge management system, company information can be accessible to people that need information, and often that is far beyond management. Flat. The second article by Jarche really gets into the idea of “social learning” in the workplace. What really jumped out at me was his analyzing of social learning. That there are two types of learning in the workplace: formal (training) and informal learning (observation, conversations, time on task). The “jumped-out-at-me-part” was that informational learning was 80% of on the job learning! He also classified different learnings that should be part of organizational structures, and not necessarily the formal trainings of the past. Of the following learnings, only one (FDL) is actually traditional.

• IOL: Intra-Organizational Learning (keeping the organization up to date on strategic and internal activities)

• GDL: Group Directed Learning (teams of people working together)

• PDL: Personal Directed Learning (individuals taking responsibility for their own learning)

• ASL: Accidental & Serendipitous Learning (learning without realizing it)

• FSL: Formal Structured Learning (classes, training, workshops, both ansynchronous and synchronous)

Even the traditional FSL has changed with knowledge management technology. My company recently undertook a organization-wide project management initiative. Through self-paced learning (asynchronous, web based training), employees that want to manage (or continue to manage) projects must undertake a series of project management modules, and pass tests at the end of each module (10). This is certainly FSL, but there is also a strong PDL portion. Employees were able to start this process in February and have until May 31 to complete it (I finished late last week…yea me). The Personal Directed Learning component was present, as it was up to each employee to manage their time. As more employees had trouble with the training and needed help, management responded by allowing employees to work in teams. Now this traditional model of “training” (FDL), used technology to create interactive, asynchronous training, but also employed PDL and GDL, as well. I am sure along the way there was ASL, and I would argue that that management response to the training could be a case for IOL.

Interestingly enough, it is the very training I finished in the corporate project management that was a direct response to knowledge management in the organization. There are too many pieces of information floating around the company to manage in a traditional way. Technology has made it a necessity to change the way we look at information and manage it. It could be through a system like Google Docs or Docushare (or systems in-between), but organizations that refuse to modernize not only their technology, but the way they view knowledge management will be relegated soon to mediocrity, if not obscurity.