Friday 18 December 2015

Can Crowdfunding Pay for Edu PD?

What have the following Connected Educators, who have a collective following of over 237,000 followers on Twitter all have in common?

Shelly Sanchez (@ShellTerrell - 67,700 Followers), Nicholas Provenzano (@ -            51,800 Followers), Sarah Thomas ( -25,800 Followers) Joe Mazza ( -       20,100 Followers), Craig Kemp (@MrKempNZ -17,200 Followers), Susan Bearden (@s_bearden -     15,400 Followers), Sam Patterson (@SamPatue - 9,081 Followers), Zeina Chalich (@ZeinaChalich       6,869 Followers) Dan Ryder ( - 6,080 Followers) Julie Szaj ( -                            5,242 Followers), Jesse Lubinsky ( - 4,428 Followers) Allison Fuisz (@allison_fuisz -           2,449 Followers) Kevin Hime ( - 2,102 Followers), Jaison Oliver ( - 1,778 Followers)
Carina Hilbert (@CarinaHilbert - 1,678 Followers), Derek Larson ( - 1,301 Followers), Valerie Lewis ( - 1,037 Followers), Nick Patsianas ( -748 Followers), Kirsten Innes ( - 809 Followers)

They, along with another 40 educators and industry experts would like to attend the UK Digital Citizenship Summit on the 23rd January 2016.

These educators have also identified a number of companies from major tech companies like Twitter, Skype, Voxer and Google and well established EdTech companies like Schoolology, RemindHQ and Edmodo to up and coming startups like Declara and Buncee who they would be happy to advocate for during their visit to the UK.
It has taken 4 weeks to get the event organised but everything is now in place and the early sponsors have ensured that the event will be free of charge to delegates.

What I would like to do now is to explore the extent to which we can develop the #Get2ISTE model and to see if we can answer this question that EdWeek posed four months ago:


I believe that Crowdfunding can pay for educators PD and feel that it can be done in a way that it helps to improve and further develop relations with educators and EdTech companies. HOWEVER a little bit of work needs to be done in order to realise this.

There isn't a great deal of time left to explore this prior to the holidays and/or in time for BETT and the #DigCitSummitUK but I'm going to work with the educators who are keen to explore the idea to see what we can do.

We got a conference arranged in 4 weeks, why not see if we can make a dent in crowdfunding professional development and see if it can have a positive impact on Edu/EdTech relations. 

Startups, Growing Pains and Product Market Fit

"More organisations die of indigestion than starvation" David Packard

That's something that I have gotten an appreciation of this week as the UK Digital Citizenship Summit closes it's 5th Week. This post details how and why I'm going to be charting my own course for a few days in the hope that the #DigCit Ship can progress at full speed.

Two weeks ago there were 15 core supporters and today there are hundreds of people all rowing in the same direction. Today there are hundreds of people pitching in all rowing in the same direction but there can be the odd collision of people and oars as we all busy about getting stuff done.


When you've achieved product market fit then you'll scale quickly. Apple pay had 1 million activations in 72 hours. However, scaling quickly means there is a danger that the culture gets affected too and/or other issues arise.

For example, securing funding for 6-10 speakers at an event wouldn't normally be a problem... but when there are as many as 72 potential speakers 46 being from the US, it causes some challenges.
  • What's the perception from others when an event is this popular?
  • How do we deal with this and how do we short list the number of speakers? 
  • How do we find the support for those looking to attend the event with 5 weeks to go, including the Christmas break? 
Product Market Fit: Adjacent to what you're working on 
My involvement with the summit was due to me thinking of ways to assist with the Developing the Youth Workforce, an agenda where the Scottish Government's own document on the topic highlights that


"Throughout this plan it is clear that success relies on meaningful engagement with Scotland's education and employment communities"
"How to achieve better connectivity and co-operation between education and the world of work to ensure young people at all levels of education understand the expectations of employers, and that employers are properly engaged"
But when you try to deliver this and people question the motives without getting the facts and cite things like 


"This is starting to look to like an idea being led by an attempt to 'fix the EdTech sales process' as you put it, more so than advancing a socially beneficial agenda around citizenship, togetherness and ethics"

After spending 2 years playing politics in UK Further Education, as this is coming from an area of education which, on the week it ends it's consultation on Digital Learning sees educators discussing industrial action and the government coming under fire for budget cuts affecting education, it's perhaps best to leave the politics to the politicians. 

This political wrangling led to the organisers to see that Product Market Fit was adjacent to the original plan, as is so often the case. The Twitter founders started out with podcasting and Twitter was a side project.

Iterating to Product Market Fit
As the Digital Citizenship Summit is all about diversity the organisers realised that having an event around the same time and location as BETT would be ideal for UK and overseas educators, as well as for speakers and delegates who are non-educators. This is a decision that was taken two weeks ago and since then things have gone a bit crazy.

Scaling an Idea
DigCitSummit has already proven the concept that they have a unique event. The event organisers reached out to me to discuss scaling the idea. Rightly or wrongly I suggested that an event could be organised in a crazily short period of time.

We've done that. We've organised the UK Digital Citizenship Summit in 4 weeks... but scaling has had it's challenges.

I have tagged my interest in improving educator/EdTech relations onto this event by looking to see if we can use crowdfunding from suppliers to provide educators with professional development opportunities that would not otherwise be available to them. I've suggested that suppliers funding the travel costs.

I've seen the rationale as being both sound as it is based on "Finding the bright spot" with educators and suppliers and have seen this as part of Digital Citizenship... but it appears to have confused matters, quite possibly affected the Digital Citizenship brand and most definitely has caused some unnecessary delays.

Cost Vs Benefit
Some advocates of Digital Citizenship details crowdfunding is an impressive example of digital citizenship (See the answer to Question 5 in this article), so felt there was synergy with what I had seen at education conferences and this event.

But when it's 46 educators looking to attend the event, I can see how this might be seen as more about generating revenue than about Digital Citizenship.

It is frustrating that I have either not articulated my experiences well enough and/or that critics have chosen to spend more time talking about me rather than to me.

I have made a commitment to the Digital Citizenship Summit team and to my connected educator friends. Therefore I will continue to support the summit and will continue with trying to raise funds so that some US Connected Educators can attend BETT and the summit.

The reasons for securing this funding and trying to get these educators to these events have been well documented and make sense to the educators who are supportive of these ideas.

Anyone who is not aware of this rationale is happy to get in touch, but you'll forgive me if it takes a while for me to come back to you... I'm going to be a little busy over the next few days.

I believe that #DigCitSummit Co-Founder will be writing a post to clarify the summits position on the issue of the event and crowdfunding.

I'm now going to spend a few days, independently of the Digital Citizenship brand to see if I can develop some ideas that I've had around crowdfunding and professional development. 

Tuesday 15 December 2015

EdChat Moderators - Making Connections & Giving Back

This post makes an argument for how and why it might make sense for Twitter support the twelve EdChat Moderators who are looking to attend the UK Digital Citizenship Summit to present at the event.

Today at 2pm GMT/9am ET a Thunderclap will go out with the message

"I support #DigCitSummitUK on the 23rd Jan 2016 and think it would be fantastic if Twitter and Skype supported the event"

Whether we look at the story behind how this summit came about, the time and effort that EdChat moderators have put into developing their EdChats or from the perspective of what the twelve moderators looking to attend the event... Twitter supporting #DigCitSummitUK sure makes sense to me.

I wonder if others will agree.

EdChat Moderators - Passionate & Motivated
When you consider that educators clock up £7 billion of unpaid overtime AND THEN some also take to Twitter and moderate an EdChat (Or two... or three) on a weekly/monthly basis, it doesn't take a genius to figure that this is;

1) An extremely passionate group of people
2) Where, with the right culture, a lot of innovation and EdReform will come from

Over 400 EdChats that take place out of hours where educators self organise and discuss various edu issues of the day.

People have marveled at how much has been achieved in 4 weeks with the #DigCitSummitUK with EdChat Moderators Julie Szaj (#NT2T) and Craig Kemp (#Whatisschool) have achieved in the last few weeks with organising this event... with a little help from other moderators and people in their PLN.

It's amazing what a small group of passionate people can achieve!

EdChat Moderators - Selfless Givers
I hope the comment above details how selfless these educators are: they put in unpaid overtime, establish Twitter chats to assist their colleagues, will demo and advocate for technology companies without asking for anything in return (But, again, will give up their time to go to ambassador training and networking events).

Educators will also continue to do more with less as budget cuts have taken effect over the last few years and/or the issues affecting children's home lives enter and disrupt the classroom as the global recession has taken hold.

This selfless giving is commendable but, as Adam Grant highlights in Give and Take, it also runs the risk of burnout as educators end up giving too much.

To take on an EdChat and be available every week for the last 5 years is quite a commitment.

If we were to take the US salary guide and factor in an hour of preparation and an hour to host a chat each week this would come out at $15-30,000 if this leadership PD was part of the moderators day job.

Alternatively, if all 1,045 EdChat moderators attended their chat every week for a year this would come in at $3,120,000-6,240,000 based on the same salary scale.
How Much Teachers Get Paid State-by-State
Connecting the Unconnected
I don't need anyone to tell me how contentious it is to discuss the nature of educators selfless giving in monetary terms is, no-one seems to appreciate the discussion. So I'll turn my attention to the opportunity to connect the unconnected.

I may be biased, but I think that this project provides a powerful example of how a little bit of online chat can lead to massive real world collaboration.

I've come under a little bit if fire and faced criticism for making this summit US-centric, when the reality is that I reached out to everyone in my network to get their thoughts on (and get them involved with) #DigCitSummitUK, but it is US educators who got behind the event.

You need look no further than conferences like the recent Scottish Learning Festival or Association of Colleges annual conference and compare them with the chatter on social media with US events like ISTE to see the difference. 

Therefore, having connected educators who have given so much over the last few years to meet people in their PLN IRL and to advocate for the importance of being a connected educator at a time when a Tweet led to a summit being organised by three moderators and a bunch of volunteers within an insanely short period of time sure makes sense to me!

Skills/Education Gap
Everyone recognises the need for more business/education collaboration and whether we consider California's Circle the Schools, Scotland's Developing the Youth Workforce, UK Modern Apprenticeships, Canada's work on Learner Voice, Singapore and Australia's innovations this event has the kind of diversity that these initiative advocate for.

And if this group of passionate and highly motivated volunteers have organised all this virtually in four weeks, imagine what they'd do if they were in the same space for 3-4 days in January?! 

Sending out an SOS
However, to achieve this we need to ask for one of two things that selfless givers can be uncomfortable with.

1) Ask for help 
2) Ask for funding

According the Adam Grant's research, selfless givers will help anyone and everyone they can... but don't like asking for help themselves. Also, the suggestion that educators benefit financially for hosting their EdChat will be uncomfortable to the very people the idea is designed to help.

So getting this message right for all stakeholders is a near impossibility. So my conclusion is a cathartic one.
  • Any support that Twitter might provide will both be earned and will help with their growth plans...it looks to me like plain good business sense to me.
  • To suggest financial support for 12 moderators to come over to the UK could look like a big number in terms of financial support... but this figure pales in comparison to the time moderators put in if moderating their chats was part of their paid employment.
  •  The differences in the use of Twitter and social media by US educators compared with the UK is quite marked... conference data is a good example of this

I've done my best with this post and I've done my best with pitching in to pull this event together. To be 2-3 weeks behind schedule because of unforeseen delays out of a 5 week project truly is a remarkable achievement.

So we're now in a position were we need a little assistance... I hope someone gets and responds to this SOS.

Monday 14 December 2015

#DigCitSummitUK: Sponsorship & Delivering an ROI

Today we embark on week 5 of the #DigCitSummitUK journey which started off as a two people sharing a post in Twitter, arranging a Skype call to discuss the area of shared interest... and then arranging a conference in six weeks time.

Last week was a case of assessing if the interest was there from a speaker and delegate perspective. Today we have 64 speakers interested in taking part, and notifications were pinging off all over the place last Monday when we announced the venue and speakers due to the number of ReTweets etc.


There were 235 Tweets posted on #DigCitSummitUK last Monday (7th December), messages that were retweeted 1,175 times.

Since the first #DigCitSummit on 3rd October I sourced over 4,000 Tweets related to Marialice Curran and David Ryan Polgar's Digital Citizenship events with over 500 people Tweeting about these Digital Citizenship events.

Twitter & Skype Thunderclap 
Tomorrow at 2pm GMT/9am ET a message will go out to demonstrate how supportive the #DigCitSummit community is for Twitter and Skype to get involved with this event.

Not only are they the platforms that were the catalyst for this event, but they are universal tech toys that are part of every connected educators tool box.

Show your Friendship First... Or Delivering an ROI?
The synergy with these two organisations at the Digital Citizenship Summits is obvious, as is the story of An Amazing Skype call with a Connected Educator a compelling tale for connected educators to help with their on-going mission to get the unconnected plugged in. 

The organisers of the summit are keen to see diversity and collaboration.

When we added my assessment of what might be needed in Scottish Education regarding getting educators connected, Developing the Youth Workforce and my interests in Educator/EdTech relations (especially at conferences, see Mad Learning with a Connected Educator) we discussed who to invite to the Summit... and how to get them here. For me the quickest, best and most cost effective solution was to get some connected educators involved. But how to demonstrate the value of this?
  • Helping Anthony Doyle get a reach of 1.4 million people with his 300 followers (See DigCitSummit Twitter Reach and ROI), 
  • This Twitter/Skype Thunderclap 
  • Curating this #DigCitSummit Twitter data
We hope that we have been "showing our friendship first" while demonstrating our desire (and ability) to deliver a return on investment for any financial support for this event.

Edu/Supplier Relations & A Return on Relationship
When I heard about how different the atmosphere was at the first DigCitSummit, I had a fair idea of why it was a different experience... I also had a fair idea of how and why this would soon be lost if the sponsorship format was the same as other events with sales people invading the bloggers cafe etc. 

I thought I'd try something different... and ambitious.

I have asked people who will need financial support to name any companies that they would be happy to advocate for at BETT and the DigCitSummitUK.

We a list of 255 companies that overseas speakers and delegates would be happy to advocate for with a view to delivering a Return on Investment at BETT and #DigCitSummit.

What would this Return on Investment look like? I'm not about to speak on behalf of the #DigCitSummit brand or the 60+ Connected Educators about 255 tools, some of which I've never heard of... let alone used. 

So here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to lay out a potential value proposition and then encourage these educators to go and collaborate and co-create with these companies.

Value Proposition
It would be fantastic to get Connected Educators to two events in the UK and a lot of these educators have identified up to 20 companies that they would be happy to advocate for.

If 4 companies were to contribute £1,000 that would come in at a cost of £250 per event. If the company already had a stand at BETT then the Connected Educator would be able to stop by the stand for an hour or so and give a demo of their product. As word of mouth referrals are the best method of sales this could have quite an impact. 

Or, if the company is a startup and/or was focusing on US educators then this could be a cost effective way to get to BETT and find more UK educators and/or some early adopters if this was a relatively new solution to UK educators. A number of companies covering the travel costs for an educator is 

The best possible representative at the lowest possible cost

 And could be ideal for any US based companies who would not otherwise be at the event.  

Co-creation and ROI
We are encouraging educators to reach out to these suppliers to see if there would be an interest in supporting them with this event, and to then have a discussion regarding ways that any support could deliver an ROI. For anyone who sees this as an exercise in generating income is to miss the point.

Anyone who has followed any of my work will realise the extent to which I have seen the sales process in education is flawed and/or how important I feel developing relationships is... It is the start point for anyone aspiring to create EdTech products/services that are fit for purpose.

Working in this way ie Developing Relationships and Delivering Value for all stakeholders is what I have been working on for the last few years.

Underwriting an ROI?
At a cost of £250-1000 per event for two conferences over the course of 4 days, AS WELL AS the kind of results we have delivered online while planning this event, we are confident that an ROI and ROR is possible.

In case this is not achieved then maybe the DigCitSummit brand who have events planned in Spain and Australia could ensure that value is delivered. 

Tuesday 8 December 2015

#DigCitSummitUK: Twitter Reach & ROI


This is the first post were Team DigcitSummitUK details how and where suppliers might expect to get a return on investment if they support some of the Connected Educators who are looking to set sail on the DigCit Ship in January.

Schoolology's Anthony Doyle, Director of Sales UK, had 0 followers on Twitter just over a week ago... today he has 300 followers and a reach of just under 1.5 million accounts.

Ships Log
While working on my startup plans and pitching in to help Education Scotland with their Digital Learning consultation, I've also been keeping an eye out for opportunities with innovative EdTech companies... but there are not many opportunities and I've still been in transition from sales to Community Management.

I notice on LinkedIn that Schoolology is hiring sales people in the UK, it's finally happened! Innovative US EdTech is making it's way over the the UK... I fill out the application form and send my CV etc off.

When all the EdTech incubators starting sprouting up I noticed that these companies were doing things differently and educators were expecting a different kind of engagement. With no community management jobs in Scotland and few EdTech companies, I've been reskilling on a voluntary basis.

Anthony Doyle (Director of Sales UK) invited me to connect on LinkedIn... Aye, aye thinks I, that could be a promising development.

Anthony asks if we could have a skype call on Friday 27th November for a chat, I ascertain if this has got anything to do with my job application or as a new connection on LinkedIn and to discuss my research in Scotland and/or the UK Digital Citizenship Summit.

The reason I ask this is because this is the end of week 1 of #DigCitSummit and I'm feeling a little woosy from being so tired.

Technology fails me twice, Skype isn't working as I've got a bad connection, and my old Blackberry isn't up for chatting today (It has off days like that).

What a Sails Guy!
I race home to have a chat with Anthony and it's one of those rambling chats about some of my faviourite topics. Anthony is in sales but he's also spent 15 years in UK Further Education colleges where he innovated on a number of projects.

Like many he found the pace of change slow and eventually jumped ship to join the world of Tech companies where he sold in a way that the best companies do, through co-creation and collaboration.

New toTwitter... But Not Anymore!
After the call Anthony gave me a mention on Twitter and he had no followers. Interesting thought I... Maybe #DigCitSummitUK could use this to show that there would be a Return on Investment to any companies that supported US Educators and speakers to attend the event.

Today Anthony has 300 followers... But guess what? As of today he has a reach of 1,472,464 people. That's impressive! Anthony Doyle's Twitter Followers (27th Nov - 8th Dec)

Reach Vs Hard to Reach Vs Marketing Gimmick
Now this could easily be nothing more than a "We'll get you 5,000 followers marketing gimmick" if it was not for two very important points;

1) Schoolology has been included in #DigCitSummitUK's list of companies that speakers would be happy to represent while they are in the UK and Marialice Curran and Jesse Lubinsky both included the company on the list.

Furthermore Marialice was one of Schoolology's early ambassadors when the company was starting out.

2) This is Anthony's target market, these are the people he would like to engage and connect with to discuss his product and any new developments with.

#DigCitSummitUK Reach & ROI 
So getting Anthony a following of 300 connected educators in just over a week has made it easier for him to connect with his target audience. This could save on marketing budget and the "cost per customer acquisition" and any savings here could be re-diverted into covering the costs for a connected educator to go to the event.

This is not to suggest that Schoolology do this... I saw this as an opportunity for a case study in one area of how supporting the #DigCitSummitUK Crew could provide an ROI.

Now Anthony has been an absolute star since he started pitching in with this event... I wonder if we can all pull together to get him up to 500 by the end of the day? ;)

This is one example of many... more like it to follow.

If you are on this#DigCitSummitUK's list please feel free to get in touch and we'll let you know more while we continue to get organised.

Monday 7 December 2015

Ships Log and Pirate Articles




Shackleton's leadership style was formed when working under people like Scott and vowing not to treat men they way he and his crew mates were treated. What he hated most about these jobs were pettiness, irresponsible bosses, insufferable working conditions and a lack of trust and respect among crew members. In the early expeditions which he led he learned that leadership that was rigid, remote, undemocratic, and uncertain didn't work. On the Endurance he focused on the one thing that that gave the best chance at reaching their goals: Unity"

On Boarding The Crew
3rd October: The inaugural Digital Citizenship Summit  is hosted

9th November: I share a post about digital citizenship with one of the organisers, they ask if myself and author of the post Malcolm Wilson can arrange a Skype call to discuss a UK Digital Citizenship Summit

16th November: Myself and the organisers arrange a to have a Skype call

23rd November: Craig Kemp (@MrKempNZ) and Julie Szaj (@Shyj) and Maria Zabala (@iwomanish) join the merry band

30th November:  In the week that was kicked off with the inaugural Connected Educator Appreciation Day we got the support from these awesome people:

Judy Artz (@JudyArzt), Buncee (@Buncee), Anthony Doyle (@Digucate), Mike Lee (@MikeLeeOrg), Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza), Nick Patsianas (@nickpatsianas),Ramona Peirson (@ramonapierson), Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher), James Stanbridge (@Stanbridge), Carol Varsalona (@cvarsalona), Dan Whalen (@whalen

7th December: We have selected a venue which will be announced at 5pm today when the deadline for speakers ends. We already have over 50 speakers interested (Subject to availability when the date is announced... and funding).

We also have over 130 people ready to get involved in various ways.

Sign Up...
If anyone is interested in joining this event, simply read the information below and then just find something to do as and where you can. We have a series of 4-5 "20 second favours" that could make a big difference.

1) Share details about the event. 

Today (Monday 7th Dec) this included share the last call for speakers: Date & Venue Survey and any details the organisers share about the event on Twitter.


2) Follow Anthony Doyle (@Digucate) and Nick Patsianas (@nickpatsianas)

3) #BeTheDigitalChange with turning your Twitter profile Pirate

Educators who have changed Their Twitter profile

4) Follow the companies on this list Speaker Preferred Supplier List

5) Send some love to any of the companies on this list that you use. I understand that Educators are particularly keen to see Skype, Twitter, Voxer and Periscope involved and various people are engaging with their contacts at these companies.

6) Join #DigCit Chat and #WhatisSchool this week to discuss the event in January

Ships Articles
I dug out my copy of Life Among the Pirates and was surprised to find that the model that pirates used was extremely similar to the framework that I have been using as I make plans for my own startup, which is to:

"Identify your core values and align them with a noble cause"

We've already elected a Captain, we've asked people where we should sail to (Scotland or London), we are having a "First Council" over the course of today and will then have a "Second Council" over the course of this week.

How cool that we are using real pirate articles in an attempt to keep the Stage 4/5 culture that we've been working to over the last 4 weeks

Democracy
The most significant difference between pirate and other ships was the manner in which the pirate company was organised, and the code by which the pirates operated. Unlike the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, or indeed any other institution in the 17th and 18th Centuries the pirate communities  were democracies. A hundred years before the French Revolution, the pirate companies were run on lines which liberty, equality and brotherhood were the rule rather than the exception. In a pirate ship, the captain was elected by votes of the majority of the crew and he could be deposed if the crew were not happy with his performance. The crew, and not the captain decided the destination of each voyage and whether to attack a particular ship or to raid a coastal village. At the start of voyage, or on election of a new captain, a set of written articles were drawn up which every member of the ships company was expected to sign. These articles regulated the distribution of plunder, the scale of compensation for injuries received in battle and set out the basic rules for shipboard life and the punishment for those who broke the rules. The articles differed from ship to ship but they followed similar lines.

First Council: Preperation
One of the earliest descriptions of the pirates code of conduct appears in Exquemelins Buccaneers of America, which was first published in 1678. Exquemelin tells how the pirates called a council on board ship before embarking on a voyage of plunder. At this preliminary gathering it was decided where to get hold of provisions for the voyage. When this was agreed, the pirates went out and raided some Spanish settlement and returned to the ship with a supply of pigs augmented by turtles and other supplies. A daily food allowance was then worked out for the voyage: Exquemelin notes that the allowance for the captain was no more than that of the humblest mariner.

Second Council: Setting Sail
A second council was then held to draw up the code of conduct for the forthcoming voyage. These articles, which everyone was bound to observe, were put into writing. Every pirate expedition, in common with most privateering expeditions, worked on the principle of "No prey, no pay." 

The first requirement of the articles to determine exactly how the plunder should be divided when the pirate had their prey. The captain received an agreed amount for the ship, plus a proportion of the share of the cargo, usually five or six shares. The salary of carpenter or shipwright who had mended and rigged the ship was agreed at 100 or 150 pieces if eight, and the salary of the surgeon was 200 or 250 pieces of eight. Sums were then set aside to recompense for injuries. 

Early Medical Insurance
It is interesting to observe how this early form of medical insurance determined the value of different parts of a pirate's body. The highest payment of 600 pieces of eight was awarded for the loss of a right arm; next came the loss of a left arm at 500; the right leg 500 but the left leg 400; the loss of an eye or a finger were rewarded with a payment of 100. Once these sums had been agreed, the remainder of the plunder was divided out. 

The master's mate received two shares, and the rest of the crew received one share each. Any boys in the crew received half a share. The buccaneers were insistent that no man should receive more than his fair due, and everyone had to make a solomn oath that he would not conceal and steal for himself anything in a captured ship. Anyone breaking this rule would be turned out by the company.

Change of Leadership
 The application of this code can be observed in the journal of Basil Ringrose. In July 1681 they captured the Spanish San Pedro off the coast of Chile. She was laden with wine, gunpowder and 37,000 pieces of eight in chest and bags. "We shared our plunder among ourselves" Ringrose noted "Our dividend amounted to the sum of 234 pieces of eight to each man.

For most of the voyage the buccaneers were led by captain Bartholwmew Sharp

"A man of undaunted courage and of an excellent conduct."

 He was a natural leader, and was skillful at the practical and theoretical aspects of navigation, bit in January 1681, following weeks of storms and hardships, the men became mutinous. By a majority decision they deposed Captain Sharp and elected John Watling, a tough seaman and a former privateer. Sharp was compelled to relinquish his command and the crew signed a new set of articles with Watling. Three weeks later Watling was killed during an attack on a coastal fort, and Sharp was persuaded to resume his command of the expedition.

Battle Plans
Johnston's General History of the Pirates describes the similar role of the pirate captains in the early years of the 18th Century. As with the earlier buccaneers, the captain had absolute power in battle and when 'fighting, chasing, or being chased' but in all other matters he was governed by the majority wishes of the crew. Although he was given the use of the great cabin he did not have it exclusively to himself, but must expect that other members of the company to come in and out, use his crockery and to share his food and drink.

Infighting
 The captains authority was further limited by the powers which were given to the quartermaster. He too was elected by the crew, and is described as being 'a sort of civil magistrate on board a pirate ship' He was the crew's representative and 'trustee for the whole.' His job was to settle minor disputes, and he had the authority to punish with whipping or drubbing. He was expected to lead the attack when boarding a ship, and he usually took command of captured prizes.

The pirates had no use for the ranks of lieutenant or mid-shipman, but they did elect men to do the jobs carried out by warrant officers and petty officers on merchant ships and naval vessels. In addition to the quartermaster, most pirate ships had a boatswain, a gunner, a carpenter and a cook; there was usually also a first mate and a second mate.
Bartholomew Roberts Pirates Code 
Several examples of the articles are drawn up by the crews of different pirate captains have been preserved. Those adopted by the men led by Bartholomew Roberts are the most comprehensive, and are worth quoting in full because the provide a revealing slant on the pirate's way of life. These are taken from Captain Johnsons General History of the Pirates

I. Every man has a vote in affairs of moment; has equal title to the fresh provisions, or strong liquors, at any time seized, and may use them at pleasure, unless a scarcity makes necessary, for the good of all, to vote a retrenchment.

II. Every man to be called fairly in turn, by list, on board of prizes because, they were on these occasions allowed a shift of clothes: but if they defrauded the company to the value of a dollar in plate, jewels, or money, marooning was their punishment. If the robbery was only betwixt one another, they contented themselves with slitting the ears and nose of him that was guilty, and set him on shore, not in an uninhabited place, but somewhere, where he was sure to encounter hardships.


III. No person to game at cards or dice for money


IV. The lights and candles to be put out at eight o'clock at night: if any of the crew, after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck. 


V. To keep their peace, pistols, and cutlass clean and fit for service. 


VI. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man were to be found seducing any of the latter sex, and carried her to sea, disguised, he was to suffer death. 


VII. To desert their ship or quarters in battle, was punished with death or marooning. 


VIII. No striking one another on board, but every man's quarrels to be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. 


IX. No man to talk of breaking up their way of living, till each had shared £1,000. If in order to this, any man should lose a limb, or become a cripple in their service, he was to have 800 dollars, out of the public stock, and for lesser hurts, proportionately. 


X. The captain and quartermaster to receive two shares of prize: the master, boatswain, and gunner, one share and a half, and other officers one and a quarter. 


XI. The musicians to have rest on the Sabbath Day, only by night, but the other six days and nights, not without special favour.


What will be the Ships articles for this event? Will everyone sign up to whatever code that everyone agrees with? Who knows... tune in next week to see what happens. With 6 weeks to go it is definitely going to be a case of sink or swim.

Here's Dave Logans' 90 day strategy framework
:
1) Do we have enough assets (time, money or people) to achieve our outcomes? 
If the answer is No: How do we build our assets?
2)  Do we have enough assets to achieve our outcomes?
If the answer is No: What assets do we have that we have not identified yet?
3) Will our actions and behaviours accomplish these outcomes?

Yes/No

Thursday 3 December 2015

An Early Christmas Gift for Julie




This is a story of the night of the Nativity, when Jesus has been born and he, Joseph and Mary are fast asleep. 

A fox sneaks through the stable door. The animals clustered about the manger begin berating him for his thieving ways and propensity for stealing eggs and chickens. They demand to know what his gift will be for the Christ Child, as he has little to offer, they say, compared with them. 

He tells them he is giving Jesus the gift of cunning. The animals are aghast, but the Christ Child sits up and thanks the fox. "It is good," the Child says, "because it is not half a thing. It is whole. Who else among you has given me as much?" 

Such a gift that will surely end in the animal's death, he explains, for no wild creature can live long without its cunning. Cows, donkeys and other animals, He said, had given worthy but replaceable gifts: a manger, wool, a dove's lullaby and a donkey's back. 

But, "The fox has given me all he had," the Child continues. "Without his cunning, how will he find food or escape the snare? How will he live now, alone in the woods? His cunning is his strength; his cunning is his life. It is the only thing he has, and he has given it away."  

12 Days of Christmas for EdTech Sales People
Unrequited EdTech Love

How I Met DigCit Chat

I am a huge fan of EdChats but I don't attend many of them, the reason for this is because I know my strengths and feel that I can add value in different ways.

I would like to represent a post that I wrote after another instance where I was extremely supportive of the Government with the VoteYes agenda, but where I got frustrated at how a fantastic opportunity was squandered.

I wonder if the organisers who were supportive of the idea at the time feel this might be a little bit easier to implement today... Or, more accurately in January.

Can you imagine a group of people from all different sectors collaborating to shut all the Trolls down?

Many Twitter accounts make light work because we are: #BetterTogether to #BeTheDigitalChange

#DigCit Vs Trolls: I'm A Student Friendly Social Media Educator

New Teachers to Twitter

After watching Chris van der Kuyl's keynote and reading the Developing the Youth Workforce document, I knew who and what could be used to realise the things that Chris was advocating for.

This post details how and why I felt an an invasion of Connected Educators was needed and how Julie Szaj and here merry band of New Teachers to Twitter #NT2T could help.

Developing the Youth Workforce
When I read Developing the Youth Workforce document I highlighted how an initiative that I am a HUGE fan of could help, I detail this in Developing the Youth Workforce and Circle the Schools post.

The same week that I published this some people from Circle the Schools contacted me and we had a discussion. During which she said 

"WOW! What are they putting in the water in Scotland... what ever it is it's working! You are nailing it!" 

I had a chuckle to myself and said that "I've been watching what's been happening in CA and taking tones, because what's happening over there will be here eventually... I'm just trying to re-skill so I'm ahead of the curve" says me... Because cold calling is dead!

We're still chatting about these issues but having already written this post and speaking to Marialice Curran on the 24th November, I felt working with the DigCitSummitUK team could achieve the same result as Circle the Schools and/or what I said would be needed to realise the #DYW agenda.


Twitter Data: A Trust or Training Issue
After speding a week writing a few posts to detail what I felt was needed to implement Chris' keynote I started looking at the Twitter data.

Straight away there was one of two issues going on and the solution to both was to call in the Connected Educators. What were the issues? They were either issues of Trust or Training.

I looked at the various hashtags that were Scotland's education water cooler moments and the number of accounts were not huge.
  • Only 545 people chatting on a national conference hashtag and only 70 of those were from School or educator accounts.
  • 211 people chatting on the #DigiLearnScot hashtag, again relatively few educators
  • 145 accounts on the newly established #ScotEdChat hashtag but only 45 educators.
Trust Issues
Trust or Training: Take a Wild Guess about which one I think that it is!
When you then look at the number of people chatting with policy makers you can't help wonder if there's a trust issue, something that was apparent from day one of my exploration into the issues (And BOY! was that theme set to continue as events unfolded!)

But then again, I understand that Education Scotland don't reply to people on Twitter, they use Social Media to broadcast their PR messages... Too big and important to engage with the little people #Couldn'tresist.

So whether a trust or training issue Education Scotland would not be able to resolve the issue, they either can't reach educators because trust has been broken and they are fed up... Or if they are not modeling and/or encouraging good use of Social Media or providing the right #DigCit then how can they teach it?

"Before you can become a digital leader, you need to become a digital learner" 

Raising A Digital Nation
When watching van der Kuyl's "Raising the Digital Nation" I felt that priority #1 was to "Get Social." Before acting I had to listen to find the bright spots.

When I saw that all Falkirk Schools were on Twitter and that Larbert High School had close to 50% of their staff on Twitter, then getting some connected educators to Larbert it just might convince an awful lot of people about the value of being social... Especially as it was a random Tweet that kicked it all off: An Amazing Skype call with a Connected Educator.

#BeTheDigitalChange
In days gone by, when the Government of the day created the problem of piracy by;

1) Press Ganging people onto ships and then
2) The conditions were horrendous on board, then they were
3) Tossed aside like rubbish when their wars were over, leaving the sailors with no way to earn a living
4) Out of necessity they "Turned Pirate"

I've no idea how good or bad a job Education Scotland is doing, based on the chatter about the National Inspection Framework it looks like they're doing a fantastic job and approval ratings are sky high!

Three people with their hands up to ask the Education Secretary a question at an Education Conference... Kudos! You have my respect!

When their was a big job to do Captains would form alliances and share the booty. I wonder if Julie Szaj might be willing to help connect New Teachers to Twitter #NT2T #NT2TEU and to show them the ropes.

Cherish Your Vision: Dreamers are the saviours of the world.


We had a few new people coming to pitch in and help out with the UK Digital Citizenship Summit crew yesterday, Carol Varsalona (@cvarsalona) who is an EdChat Moderator for New York EdChat (#NYEDChat) and poet artist extraordinaire and has become a member of the previously non-existant-but-now-established-because-of-this-sentence PR department.

The brief? Put the soul into the event... Some Techno-Soul PR Poetry.

Carol has continually tried to get me to write, draw or take aesthetically pleasing words or pictures... And I continually tell her how bad it would be... and she continually tells me that everyone is an artist.

I'm not sure about that. I've had cause to stop staring at the laptop today and went to the place I go when I want some quiet time: Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park.

As I'm reflecting on a few things and some recent experiences and we have a resident PR poet... I wondered if I could get my first art/poetry lesson and see what she could do with some of my faviourite poems. 

All Life is Suffering
Because of a number of factors I've felt that I've had to share some experiences that I'd rather not have. Amongst other things I am concerned that various groups may see and/or deal with me differently. I hope this doesn't happen. In an attempt to realise this here's the Buddhist parable of the Mustard seed

Suffering: At the Top of the Heap and in the Worst of Circumstances
A lady got in an elevator with Tom Hanks and couldn't believe her luck, but was starstruck and didn't know what to say and said 

"You're Tom Hanks... What's life like at the top of the heap?" 
His reply was "Lady, no matter where you are in the pile... there's always "stuff"

Regardless of experiences or how good or bad the conditions are we are 

"Ultimately self-determining…in the concentration camps. We watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualised depends on decisions but not on conditions" (Frankle).

Here are some of the things that have shone brightly for me during the worst of the "stuff" as Tom Hanks would put it:




"... For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time ... " 

By Endurance we Conquer
Shackleton Family Motto 
My wife gave me a picture of the Endurance as a Christmas Present and is waiting to be the first act if/when I open my own office. Under the picture will go the comment 

"When things get this bad... Then you can Moan!"
(Something that's needed in Scotland as there can be a moaning "A Hole Culture" that wins the day)

“Some people say it is wrong to regard life as a game; I don't think so, life to me means the greatest of all games. The danger lies in treating it as a trivial game, a game to be taken lightly, and a game in which the rules don't matter much. The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly, or it is no game at all. And even to win the game is not the chief end. The chief end is to win it honourably and splendidly. To this chief end several things are necessary. Loyalty is one. Discipline is another. Unselfishness is another. Courage is another. Optimism is another. And chivalry is another.” Earnest Shackleton

As Man Thinketh: Visions and Ideals
"The dreamers are the saviours of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as they realities which it shall one day see and know.... He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it.

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.


Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labour; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources. 

Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities, which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever. 

Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind, which he wields with worldwide influence and almost unequalled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks, and lo, lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remould their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous centre round which innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.

The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favoured he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!" They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it "luck". They do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune," do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it chance.

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized."

#BeTheDigitalChange: Let's Be Pirates


This post details how I've went from proponent of Education Scotland and their Digital Learning Scotland and Developing the Youth Workforce agenda to turning Pirate on them... But how and why I'm still supportive of them in their work.

That is if they know what an honest relationship looks like.

DWP Vs DYW
I am writing this when I should be at the Job Centre signing on so I receive my benefits this week. There is no point in attending because
  • I have not used jobsites to find and apply for work. 
  • I have not asked employers directly to ask about jobs.
  •  I have not check the completely pathetic universal job match website where "Recommended jobs" that they come up for me include female toilet attendant. 
Equally my job centre have told me regularly "A blog post is not a job search," even when my agreement says that I am looking for positions in social media and community management, or that I have presented this post to my "Job Coach" a number of times:



The irony that I will be sanctioned for trying to bring income and expertise to assist with the Developing the Youth Workforce AT THE REQUEST OF THE EDUCATION SECRETARY will not be lost on many...

26th October 2015: Letter from Angela Constance 
Stress & Distress: SOS
So as team #DigCitSummitUK have just celebrated the fact that we had absolutely bossed one crisis with a challenge that threatened the Summit, we land head over heels into another because of my actions.

The insanity of this situation and the worry about what I have done to my family along with tiredness, the frustration at people standing by and watching boiled over during the last few days.

The reasons and behaviours on all sides are understandable, but the situation also needs fixed, or a lot of good work and opportunities will be lost.

Education Scotland have been extremely supportive in my work over the last 12 weeks but tempers have spilled over the last few days.

For example I was supposed to meet with Jim Fanning to see what could be done about the situation, I was running late and when I heard he was in a meeting and a as "Busy" 
 I walked out saying to reception "He's busy, I'm busy... We're all too busy... Thank you for your time"

The receptionist said "Humph" an expression that says "We of all the nerve... This isn't how you behave in civilized society"

Unsubscribe
The only contact I had from Education Scotland W/C 23rd November was an "Unsubcribe" message about the summit. I do not blame them for this. This is a bureaucratic organisation that needs to think about any action that it takes.  

Neither is this concept of "Busy" new to me. I have tried to meet people who have been "Busy" for years when I've suggested that we meet... That is of course until I was do something of interest or to their dislike.

Then it's an urgent "Let's meet!" and you highlight "I've always been interested in meeting and collaborating"

Then there is the DM saying "Don't lead too much" if you start to make an impact "Not leading anything! I'm just pitching in...As I was asked to do!"Is my reply "That's not the perception." Well excuse me if what I'm doing is having an impact! FFS! If the relationship was there I'd have said either:

How do you only lead a little bit? You either lead or you don't, surely?  

Or

How about you guys "Lead a little bit?"

Civilised Behaviour
So, it's not OK for me to walk out of a reception area because we're all so busy. 
  • But it's OK for people to sit on their hands and watch people scurry about trying make things happen.
  • It's OK to say we'll have a date for you "Tomorrow" twice but not to come back until you relise that the team find a work around.
  • It's OK for someone to email asking for help because they feel out of their depth on Monday, but the only reply to be "Please unsubscribe me"
  • I was tired from working round the clock.
  • Stressed at my personal circumstances because I'm trying help regardless of knowing the consequences for me and my family, 
  • Completely pissed off at the lack of support with things I was invited to help with
  • At being told "Tomorrow and tomorrow" regarding information that we need to progress.
Turning #BeTheDigitalChange Pirate
So yesterday I snapped! I turned Pirate! 

Marialice changed her Twitter picture... I followed her lead with a slight amendment. I knew years ago where the reform would come from: EdChats and Tech companies.


But I then engaged with a Troll. I  regretted it immediately because of the potential damage that this could have done to the team. I apologized to the team quickly and wholeheartedly.

I am using this post to do with Education Scotland and anyone else involved with what has happened over the last few days, the same as I have already done with the #DigcitSummitUK team.

I understand what went on and why. I am doing my best to fix things. Our survey has our members looking overwhelmingly looking at a London venue, feel free to change that by filling out this survey

#DigCitSummitUK: Venue & Data Survey We can see what can be done once we have this info, surely it's just as easy to plan 2 summits in two different locations at the same time, no? It would be this crew anyway!

Resetting the Course
The people I have been working with have seen how upset I am at the situation. Just like my previous post, I am being honest about a situation. These are realisms' not criticisms. 

I tried to engage with FE and FELTAG with these same ideas I am exploring today for two years+. They simply didn't want to know!

Who'd have thought that improved EdTech products, less cold calls and costs savings for both colleges and suppliers would have been such a challenge! Leaving FE

So in July 2014 I wrote to all Scottish Schools with these same idea and got 3 responses, 2 of which were unsubscribes. The content I wrote was the very best I could think of, but had no impact. (This letter can be found in EdTech is Tough: Welcome to Scotland)

When I heard Chris van der Kuyl's keynote I felt that what was needed was help from people who were further down the digital journey, I knew some of these people and was confident they would help if I asked them to. 

When Marialice told me about her US Summit I saw a game changer in the making after speaking to her for 10 minutes.

If I had anything to do with it I would ask the people who have put everything into this in the last few weeks to adopt a rule that we have in our hose which is that:

"You don't treat bad manners with more bad manners"

Let's Be Pirates!
We now have that group and what's also needed to affect sweeping culture changes is a counter culture, it seems counter-intuitive... but it works!!

It was Steve Jobs pirates that helped save Apple when "The Navy's" Lisa PC floundered but AppleII sales rocketed.

I'm going to ask the people who have turned pirate with me to help me to save 3 months of hard work I've put in and see if I can repair some fledgling relationships that I know I would have enjoyed and valued a great deal if it wasn't for this latest development.

I am working on ways to have a #DigCitSummitScot as well as a #DigCitSummitUK more to follow on this soon. In the mean time I'll leave you with the sage advice of Marshal Goldsmith

Sometimes people have no idea how their behaviour is coming across to people who matter – their bosses, customers and clients. 

They think they have all the answers, but others see it as arrogance. 
They think they’re contributing to a situation with helpful comments, but others see it as butting in. 
They think they are delegating effectively, but others see it as shirking responsibilities. 
They think they are holding their tongue, but others see it as unresponsiveness. 
They think they’re letting people think for themselves, but others see it as ignoring them. 

Over time these “minor” workplace foibles begin to chip away at the goodwill we’ve all accumulated in life and that other people normally extend to colleagues and friends. That’s when the minor irritation blows up into a minor crisis. 

Why does this happen? More often than not, it’s because people’s inner compass of correct behaviour has gone out of whack – and they become clueless about their position among their co-workers. 

So much of our interpersonal problems at work are formulaic. You say something that ticks me off. I lash back at you. Suddenly, we have an interpersonal crisis...The content is irrelevant. What matters is how easily we slip into small behavioural patterns that create friction in the workplace – and how just as easy we could assume behavioural patterns that don’t create friction. [21]

To both Education Scotland and the growing number of supporters aboard the #DigCitSummitUK Jolly Roger, I apologies wholeheartedly for letting the stress and strain of the last few days get to me.

The Mindful Mentor
As with our crisis with the venue we have put things in place to ensure this doesn't happen again.
  • Marialice is forming the Digital Citizenship Institute for research so people know what Digital Citizenship is and what the Summits aims are.
  • I have found myself a mentor in James Stanbridge, Former VP of Microsoft and currently with Declara... A company that I am a massive fan of! But it's not because of his day job that I approached him about this.
James is involved with a number of groups that focus on mindfulness in entrepreneurship. The initiative that I am helping out with focuses on things like CyberEthics ie just because a tech company can do something doesn't mean that it is culturally right or good for society.

I know that when Angry takes control of your brain, joy could be lost forever.


So next time it happens I will still send the messages that I sent yesterday... but they'll go to James so I can vent. Then we can discuss...Take aim... and then shoot.

Otherwise I might just play an instrumental role in blowing a hole in the deck of our ship and destroy all the hard work others have put in.

Message in a Bottle:
Dear Bystanders, 

If you can't get behind us with what we are doing you are welcome to just stand and watch...but it might be advisable if you don't get in our way. Why? 

BECAUSE WE ARE ON IT!

No change from last post. What we said will get done WILL be done when we said it would be done.

Oh yeah... And check out for Twitter profiles to see how much we are growing. 

Ships articles to follow in next post for new recruits. For the moment though, rule #1 we have a "No A Hole Rule" Policy (Can't say the word as we have a young stow away Nick Patsianas (@nickpatsianas)


NB To members of the Navy and Pirates alike... I may not be online for a day or two... Maybe more (Some should be delighted. I've respected their unsubscribe wishes. My turn to be "Busy" but not in a good or productive way. Fire fights of a different kind.

I'll do what I can to deal with any queries but please forgive any delay in my coming back to you.