So Near, Yet So Far...

Today was not such a good day, the reason?

At best...

It's a case of "Being too early is as bad as being wrong"

At worst?

It was the slow realization that for the last 8 years I've been on a fools errand... that this time has been pretty much a waste of time, I don't think that this needed to be the case (But at the same time am at a loss with some aspects of it all)... and there sure have been some highs and lows. 

The highs undoubtedly include James Stanbridge - from the beginning to the end - that first Skype call in 2015 through to the comment he posted on my blog in Nov 2017... and all the support in between!

On a Skype call as part of the team with a Hot Shot Silicon Valley company the following comment was made:

"We should all share our Bill Gates stories one day" Says one of the Vice Presidents


"But I don't have any" says I, in a depressed tone.

"YET!" James shoots back immediately "You don't have a Bill Gates story, yet. William"

There were opportunities and epic fails, but the end isn't what I wanted for myself ...or the example I hoped to set for my kids.

I include an email in this post that includes the cringe-worthy writing from 2010 (before I started blogging or writing reports I hasten to add) it is an email that I sent to a Microsoft Exec looking for a little bit of career advice.

In 2010 I set myself the goal of "Working with one of the big 3" - Microsoft, Google or Apple. As time progressed this narrowed with more of a focus on Microsoft. The reason for aiming for "The Big Three?" 

Because I gave a company 10 years of my life, to start with the product was great... but the culture wasn't, the product followed the culture and slide down into mediocrity followed by redundancies.

It's not a great feeling not having much to show for 10 years... or the thought that you took up loads of educators time and budget on a project that wasn't "Build to Last" because of the culture the Managing Director set.

The major tech companies sure do know how to develop and scale great products...Go ask educators 

"Which tech products would you recommend to your colleagues" 

And see if and how many products there are that 100% of the school/district staff would recommend.

I bet you struggle to get everyone at the school/district naming the same products and those that are mentioned the most will be Microsoft, Google, Apple... or other major tech company products.

Great products like this is something I wanted to be part of... so much so, that I undertook projects for little/no money that I felt had value instead of taking a wage to do work that I didn't believe in. (You can see the free and paid projects on my Resume Zeemap).

In late 2016 I thought progress was being made during the Skypeathon and in 2017, after reading some LinkedIn articles by former colleague, Michael Marvosh, I gave up trying.

My CV had sat on the Microsoft careers pages for years, and Michael's advice was

"If your resume is on file at the organisation you want to work at for years, how likely is it that you'd fit in?"

A fair point Michael! That said, when you see how the Co-Founders of companies like Twitter met and/or the jobs they had before Twitter... You struggle to shake the feeling that geography has played a role in the end result.  

I wonder if those who know me and is reading these ramblings from 2010 will join me in thinking that I've been consistent and stuck to these same goals/ideas, and maybe even feel that I came close with some of them. 

The call with James Stanbridge in 2015 was a game changer for me... I'm fortunate that my 17 year old son has already had a call like that with a few people now, so perhaps he'll have a few Bill's Gates stories to share if he does consider a career in tech.

I'll do my best to wrap up one more edu project... one that I hope will see the teachers at the three schools in Scotland that my kids go to making some Skype calls, in the hope that their students will have game changing calls like the ones that my son and myself have had... as well as some of the opportunities that these calls have provided on what's ended up being a rather interesting journey.  

13th Oct 2010
Subject: [Should have been] Some Cringe Worthy Writing & Career AdviceTo: Senior Microsoft Exec (The reply I got back was the reason I got on Twitter)

I appreciate that you will be very busy but was wondering if you might be able to provide me with some advice.

I am currently looking at my next move with my career and a challenge that I have is not that I don’t know what I want to do next, but that what I am looking for is so specific that I think you may be one of the only people in the UK that can assist me!

Please allow me to explain, when considering my next move there are four things that are very important to me – personal development, making a contribution, quality of service and setting an example to my kids – all of which I consider before financial remuneration.

1)      Personal Development – As a person I am intrigued by identity, what shapes us and what drives us – why are Bill Gates & Steve Jobs et al so successful? Why do NEETS lack the drive to contribute? And without the 1-2 alleged chance encounters/reference points/random events would these entrepreneurs have been as successful as they became? And more importantly, can the reference points that inspire people in the right way be replicated to help every child in education to find what they are good at, especially with the use of IT?

     I did not particularly excel at school but have been lucky to have found people who were willing to help me grow and develop, to such an extent that I have out outperformed most of the privately educated Oxbridge graduates who I have worked with.

2)   Make a contribution – This applies to making a difference to the organisation I work for and it is important that the organisation itself makes a difference, in some way.
   

     One of my own reference points is that I got sacked from the first after school job that I had and I vowed that I would never experience that feeling again – and never have always endeavouring, and succeeding, to make myself a valued member of the teams I work with.

      In an education setting I feel that there are so many ways that IT can make the learning experience a much more enjoyable one, so much so that it has the ability to foster a lifelong love of learning in every (or at least most) children! 

      I may not have the ability to code some of these cutting edge software that programmers produce, but I can certainly demonstrate how great these products are to educators – how they can make their lives more productive & efficient while making the learning experience for children more fun.

3)   Quality of Service – It would be difficult to make any kind of contribution if a company’s service was not fit for service. I feel that this can usually be demonstrated by the relationship with the customer – if close then the level of repeat business and up-selling will be healthy and the customer will help the suppliers’ service to remain up to date.

4)   My Kids – As with most people I want to set an example for my children. Every night I ask my kids “what can you do?” and “what will they find” where the required responses are that the can do “Anything they can set their minds to” and that they will find” their place in the world“.
     

      As my kids get older I have no doubt that they will start to ask “Dad what have you done...What’s your place in the world?”    
I would dearly love to be able to say “I have helped to revolutionise the education system with the #1 software company in the world.”

As you can perhaps appreciate, when you apply the criteria above, you are only left with a handful of companies globally. Indeed it’s quite depressing when I asked my IT colleagues “Who is the best IT company in Scotland?” and you get a resounding “Don’t Know, no one really stands out!”

By now I imagine that you will either be thinking “This is a bit of a strange approach” and/or “I’m intrigued” (I certainly hope it’s more a case of the latter) – I always think it’s a curious thing that our business correspondence has become so professional that honesty and passion now stands out as “different.”

Assuming that you are indeed intrigued you may be thinking that being honest and knowing what you want is one thing, but having the necessary experience and credentials is another.

I have spend the last 4 years taking a desktop application from nothing more than an idea to managing a project which has seen our distribution network grow to include over 50% of the FE Colleges in England (198 colleges), with a 100% repeat business ratio.

I realise the risk that I am taking by sending such a long and detailed correspondence, and you may be thinking this is a stunt to do things differently just to get noticed, and indeed it can be difficult to get noticed – I can imagine that my CV would be disregarded instantly if it was received through the official Microsoft career channels. But I send this information knowing that all of the above is 100% accurate and is a true reflection of my experience, achievements and motivators.

I started my working life as a labourer on a building site and have taken full advantage of every opportunity that came my way and if there was any way that I could work with you I would not let you down, I would not squander such an opportunity.

I have included my CV for your perusal and if you did have the time to look at this, something that I would be very keen to know is what additional experience and/or qualifications would be needed before you would consider an application from me to become a part of your team?

I don’t know if you are in Glasgow or Scotland much but if so I would welcome the opportunity to meet up for a coffee. If not I would be happy to arrange to meet you at Reading or another location that would be more convenient for you.

I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this introduction and very much hope that you might be able to find the time to provide me some feedback.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely

William Jenkins

Edcamp UK - Getting Organised

"Scottish Educators need to collaborate more" closing keynote at the Scottish Learning Festival 2015, and
 
"The Scottish Government is always keen to engage with individuals who can help us to build policy... I hope you can find time to contribute to those Digital Learning Community discussions as I am sure you will have a valuable contribution to make" Letter from the Scottish Government in 2015

Has kept me busy over the last few years! On the 22nd September we are hoping to bring a range of people that we've collaborated with and are connected with through a UK Edcamp...but also connecting with people elsewhere via Skype.

This post includes some of the pre and post event ideas that have been discussed, and some suggestions for anyone with an interest in getting involved to "Find something to do and pitch in" if they wanted.

Overall AimOne of the aims of this event is to share stories about why those who are connected are using tools like Twitter and Skype and to engage and encourage other educators to get connected and make that all important first Classroom Skype call.

If you are and/or know  any one at the sectors below who would be interested in Skyping into some schools, please feel free to let us know or pass our details onto them.

If you are a school that would like to arrange to have any of these groups speak to your students... give us a shout. Equally if you are interest in helping to organise the event let us know, here's some of the teams that we're looking to organise:

Edcamp Organising Teams

Scottish/UK Event Team
Virtual #CEduAD Team

People to organise CEduAD panel discussions

Sponsorship Team

Pre Event Ideas
Microsoft Execs & Tech/EdTech staff

W/C 13^th Aug: We've had a number of Microsoft executives and tech/EdTech staff express an interest in discussing their world of work and we thought this would be a fantastic way to kick of our pre event activities... as well as the start of the new academic year.

These calls could include discussions about the interview process, any career advice, projects that they are working on and 'A day in the life of'-type conversation.

Speaking from experience when my 17 year old son spoke to Skype's Ross Smith, students interested in a career in tech may well be bouncing off the walls with excitement after the call.

Business & Entrepreneurship

W/C 20^th Aug: With all things #GoDo startup and Entrepreneurial Scotland being in vogue we thought some startup founders might be interested in getting involved and organisations like Entrepreneurial Scotland, Entrepreneurial Exchange, Saltire Foundation, Start Up grind etc calling in to discuss their work and life at a Startup.

We're sure that many of these groups will visit schools regularly but Skyping in could 

1) Help students develop in demand skills like communicating effectively online, and

2) Reduce the cost of travel and increase their reach if schools were comfortable with organising Skype calls

Careers and Management

W/C 27^th Aug: Any organisation involved with progression and next steps - My World of Work, Skills Development Scotland, FE College & university community outreach or admissions departments interested in speaking to their target market via Skype as well as at career events.

MP/MSPs (Government, Politics & Civics)

After 2^nd Sept Parliament returns on the 2nd September and any MP/MSPs who are looking to "Develop the Youth Workforce" or "Empower Educators" could do like a number of US politicians have done and discuss their work with young people.

Scottish Learning Festival

19^th Sept The Scottish Learning Festival is on and one of the reasons we have chosen this date is so that anyone travelling from the Highlands and Islands could attend more easily than during any other time

Skype Edcamp

22^nd Sept We will run a physical Edcamp where we hope to have Tim McDonald share his experiences of community building and have Connected Educators from around the world share their experiences.

The "So you want to organise an Edcamp" session at EdChange Global highlighted some of the challenges that can come from organising an Edcamp and we're delighted that some of these people are interested in getting involved: Skype Edcamp Padlet.

There is so much support that we are also looking at establishing a "Connected Educator Appreciation Day," which will be 12 or 24 one hour sessions on various topics for educators to share their stories so that people from all time zones can get involved.

Post Event Ideas
Edcafe where students & educator discuss their Skype experience

1st Oct After the event both students and educators could organise an Edcafe to share their experiences of the Edcamp and the benefits of being connected.

To make sure that the professional development is not left at the venue, we could look to encourage people to get involved with some of the Skype based activities that are available on MEC and the people and ways that classes can connect.

Connect with a #SkypeMT (Master Teacher)

W/C 8^th Oct 

Connect with a Virtual Tour

W/C 15^th Oct

Connect with an Author

W/C 22^nd Oct

Mystery Skype

W/C 29^th Oct

Pre Skypeathon video
A video of all the activities from mid August to the End of October could be produced in time for the Skypeathon.

Skypeathon

6th Nov At the Skypeathon in November we can assess if any of these efforts and activities have had any impact in helping educators and classes to get connected.

ECGlobal 2018... Connecting the Dots

Since 2015 I have collaborated with people and groups using the same "Core Values"

Since 2015 I've been in contact with the EdChange Global team (@EdChangeGlobal), and made the odd introduction to people in my PLN... I had also offered to map out all the presenters and attendees of the Edchange Global 24 hour Professional Development virtual meetup.

I'm delighted that this year organisers Cassie Reader (@Reeder_Cassie)& Vlatka Butkovic (@Butkovicedu) took me up on the offer this year.

It has been ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC getting to know the current organising team of this event over the last few weeks.

#ECGlobal & ISTE

A quick conversation on Twitter - what Michael Wu might term 'Shallow Engagement' - just before ISTE led to some more meaningful deeper engagement a few weeks later... This is the power of social media that those educators who are not yet "Connected" don't see.

Remember the closing keynote of 2015 - I think it was - Don't leave the oxygen of ISTE on the plane on the way home?

Remember the closing keynote of 2016 - Michelle Cordy (@CordyM)talking about her mentor Howard Rheingold? 

Well Cassie's tweet during ISTE (above) both meant a great deal to me AND helped me confirm what I felt was the future of social media through a comment Howard Rheingold (@hrheingold) made after spending 10 years as a 'Well Being' as detailed in Kate Hefner's book about Stewart Brand (@StewartBrand) and Larry Brilliant's (@larrybrilliant)early online community - which punched well above it's weight - "The Well"

#ECGlobal & Core Values

I jumped in and helped out this week in the way that I did, in exactly the same way I did when I connected some members of 2015 EdChange Global team with the Digital Citizenship Summit by:

1) Having Empathy - organising events is tough! Community building! I felt I could help, so pitched in

2) Honest Relationships - I let the #ECGlobal team know where I was at with the DigCitSummit movement today

3) Collaboration - One of my favourite articles is Collaborate Vs Collaborate

4) How can we help? - I hope that I have shown my "Friendship First" in the way Dave Kerpen suggests... and a few quick "5 min Favours" with the odd introduction etc as Adam Grant and Adam Rifkin recommends.

5) Quality - I hope that any aspect of the involvement has been of a high quality and has added value to this year's event.

#ECGlobal... Joining the Dots

I tend to be quite good at organising data and making introductions before events like these... but, as I am not an educator, don't think I have too much to contribute with the "on the day" event.

But I joined a few sessions... And BOY! Am I glad that I did!! And I hope my different perspective, experiences and observations in this post help and add value in some way.

I KNOW! That what I do has value, even if others don't! I also agree with keynote speaker - Entrepreneurial Scotland's (In my experience... that's a contradiction in terms!) Chris van der Kuyl - from the 2015 Scottish Learning Festival, an event that Education Scotland organises, that:

"Education Lacks Leadership" and that
"Scottish Educators need to collaborate more"

(Something I VEHEMENTLY disagree with was his suggestion that Scotland lacks talent: IMHO and experience, Scotland's talent lacks the opportunities... Something I bet I can provide better data on than any argument that Entrepreneurial Scotland might put forward!)

Something that I've continued to try to do is nudge the needle forward ever since the then Education Secretary's, Angela Constance's, invitation to reach out to people in my network in 2015. 

I was also warned by MIT's Bill Aulet how tough the problem that I set out to solve would be, something that #ECGlobal helped to prove via an Edmodo session. 

ECGlobal also helped me to see what's needed next... and why this movement could be the one that solves quite a few rather tough issues.

"We have to trust in the currents when living a life of purpose" Tim McDonald highlights. 

ECGlobal helped me to see where the dots are headed next... Here are a few other super helpful comments that have helped.

"In times of uncertainty we need networkers as much as we need leaders" 2013 World Economic Forum

"Community Architects will seek out different groups and build 'flow' between them" Rachel Happe (@rhappe) 2016 Community Manager Appreciation Day.

When the world is changing in the way that it is, at the pace that it is, and without any answers... or leadership from the places that you might expect, you have to try to "Connect the Dots," try to "Be Helpful" and work on what you do know:

1) We know that cold calling is dead... Even if people don't realise that yet

2) We know that the bots are coming and will see thousands of call centre staff lose their jobs

3) We know from an interview in the news earlier this week that the definition of "Living the dream" in Northern Ireland - where 'The Troubles' have flaired up again includes "Getting a job in a call centre" that's the extent of the economic opportunities.

4) We know that anyone who looks to our political leaders for education or economic solutions, for answers... or even just to give a damn, is deluded.

5) We know that tech companies know where it's at... Microsoft just posted record profits.

Now, I don't think that Rachel Happe knows how much a single comment both meant to me, or how busy her comment has kept me over the last 2 years... but A LOT! Is the answer to both.

#ECGlobal... #NewPowerEducation
Edchange Global this year reminded me of when I used to attend something like 10 Twitter chats a week and found myself sharing the same article over and over among different groups in different chats.

At ECGlobal this weekend, I found myself referencing or mentioning Henry Timms (@HenryTimms)and Jeremy Heimans (@jeremyheimans) book "New Power" over and over in each session

As a result of the number of references, it might be worth highlighting that I am not affiliated with the authors in any way... That said, I am EXTREMELY grateful to them for allowing me to name and label what I've been working on and will be doing all I can to help build the number of educators following and contributing to the conversations on #NewPowerEducation

The references to New Power during #ECGlobal was because I felt that the things that these connected educators were discussing - and the challenges they were facing with affecting the kind of change they believed was needed - could be greatly assisted by reading about the case studies in New Power. 

New Power in itself has helped to join the dots because I feel that "Buurtzorg for Edu" is where things are headed... and I feel that a UK Edcamp could provide a "New Power storm" that would make this happen sooner than it might otherwise.

What Kind of Leader are You?

So You Want to Organise an EdcampI enjoyed and got value out of all the sessions that I joined, including the very timely 

"So you want to organise an Edcamp" session that Irene Bal (@ireneamelia1) organised.

What was particularly useful was I felt the concerns I had around being one of the first edcamps in the UK were very real... and that having people attend virtually was as good an option as possible if/when we need an "Option B"

An event with 40+ forward thinking educators in the UK in September, if implemented well, will probably do more in 12 months time than any of the more expensive and time intensive things for those WHOSE JOB IT IS to address the Attainment Gap and Developing the Youth Workforce with their

"Oh we have a shiny plan that will be in place by 2030"

If anyone on the "We are educators who love politicians side of the fence" are reading this and don't like the rhetoric... One word: FELTAG.

Newsflash to the 'Business Manager' Bozo at the Education Minister's/Education Scotland Correspondence Unit

My kids and a lot of other people's will have left school by 2030!!!!

Active Listening, It's Not What You've Heard

I think that the biggest compliment you can give to any educator is probably 

"I want my kids to be in that teacher's lesson"

That's what I came away with thinking about Michael Messner's (@teachermike72) session.

"You have to tell a compelling story that keeps people on the edge of their seat... [And to do that] you populate that story with really memorable and appealing characters" John Lasseter

If Shane Snow was right about story telling being the number one business skill of the next 5 years, then it's not only my kids who need to listen to Michael talk about Listenwise (@listenwiselearn)... It's also educators everywhere!

The first part of the session I was wondering "Where is this guy going with this?" (In a good way... he was being a master story teller)

Then the content that he chose to make his point was extremely engaging (Possibly helped that I have a huge interest in human geography and feel that national identity is so much of an intentional, social construct).

The biggest compliment I can give about the story telling skills was it was something straight out of "Made to Stick." Michael asked something like "What role do you think sound made here?"

I was immediately reminded of the teacher who was struggling to engage his class with the US Civil War. 

So he went to the butchers to get a bone about the size of a human femur and got the noise of gun fire at a Civil war re-enactment.

At the start of the lesson he plays the gun fire and throws the bone on a desk with a saw 

"You've got 60 seconds to cut through your injured friend's leg or you are both dead"

He had the classes attention from that lesson on with all things US Civil War.

As well as a master lesson, Michael was also quick to provide the kind of disclosure that I feel is (And will be) more and more needed today:

1) He was not affiliated with or renumerated by Listenwise

2) He was a huge fan of Listenwise

3) He was friends with the CEO

Ethical but transparent... with an inspiring lesson in history, listening and story telling

Edmodo the Tool you Never Knew you Needed so Badly
Obviously I've known about Edmodo for a while. I joined this session for two reasons:

1) To see why educators are such fans of this "Facebook for education" platform, and

2) To look for the "Bright spots" -  To see what this darling of EdTech is doing - that other EdTech startups could learn from. Then a message comes up in the chat: 

"What about the fact that Edmodo has just been sold? What does this mean for student data?"

Wait? What! Edmodo has been sold? A quick google and Edsurge article later and...I find that the company lost £178 million on £1 million revenue. 

Thus proving a problem that I saw way back in 2013/4.

I had a conversation with one of the then 'darlings' of #EdTech startups (This doesn't last too long - remember how Pokemon Go was the future of education... for 6 weeks?! Lol). I asked this particular EdTech startup:

"What's your revenue model?"

The unbelievable (And rather smug!) reply: 

"Oh William, we're in the very fortunate position that we don't need to worry about this at the moment... we have more funding than we know what to do with" 

For anyone who's read Sam Walton's book about how Walmart beat Kmart etc, who had money thrown at them, would have seen how this was going to end.

EdTech incubators and Edu startups getting VC money thrown at them has had some advantages... for sure, but it's also brought with it two very real problems at both ends of the spectrum:

1) These incubators have brought with them unrealistic expectations for anyone not in the land of #EdTech honey with lots of VC money and shared services.

Sure Educators do LOADS of work for free (£7 billion a year in unpaid labour according to TES), but they do get paid. The expectation because of VC funding is that all Tech should be free and work perfectly straight out the gate! There are all kinds of problems and skewed relationships because of this.

2) Did anyone think that these VCs, who were in edu with the founders "Always free" rhetoric were in it because of their new found #GoDo Edge @RBS-type 'Give 'Em Rope' type philanthropy?

If it's 'free' then what's being sold is you.

...As the saying went about Facebook WELL before Cambridge Analytics and Trump

Back in 2011 I'm sure that ads, data or moving people from freemium to premium models was in the business plan somewhere, but not so much today and the VCs have stopped supporting these companies = fire sale. #EdTech is tough!

So the contrarian question is this... if someone like Edmodo can't make their business work, how is anyone without all the geographic advantages, access to funding and educators for feedback - then who is? 

The answer of course is very few: Because EdTech is tough. 

Connecting Culture to Cause Change: Learning without Borders with Skype

As a fan of Skype obviously I joined every session with the word Skype in it... and this was most definitely a "Join the Dots" session.

First of all we had Stormy Daniels (@MsDanielsStormy), who is a Skype Master Teacher, someone used to and familiar with technology, having some issues with the session platform: Zoom.

I was laughing my head off at this... not in a laughing at kind of way, but laughing with. Because the way she handled the tech glitch was funny and because I find that I can get SO MUCH more done and SO MUCH more quickly with the tools that I know and like.

So to hear a Skype Master Teacher have the kind of issues that I have with newer technology was a

"Glad it's not just me that this happens to" kinda moment.

I recently published a post on the idea of a Skype Master Student and some Scottish educators read the post, liked the idea and then asked me: What Schools are your kids at, maybe I know someone that can help? I told them the Local Authorities and the reply was 

"Oh those ones? Yeah... No they are tough... I know people who have tried to do things there for a while... Scotland's a tough place for these kinds of changes"

Well making a Skype call isn't so tough in the classrooms of some Scottish Local Authorities... They even have some Microsoft execs from the US to stop by to talk to their kids.

So having opportunities like this for some Scottish students but not others isn't very "Developing the Youth Workforce" or "#AttainmentGap-ish" if some opportunities exist in some districts, but not in others... Is it?

During this session the same message was conveyed...

"I try to bring in these changes in my school/district but it's tough going and a lonely struggle"

This is the case even in the most innovative and forward thinking schools and areas.

This session and these comments highlight that my ideas are correct... whether ISTE, Edcamps, Scotland, USA or Croatia the issue is the same.

The early adopters are all drinking from the fountain of connectedness... but the people who should be doing the outreach to the "Early Majority"

The so called 'leaders' and policy makers - even the ones that want to 'empower educators' or invite tech entrepreneurs from 'Entrepreneurial Scotland' to give a fine speech for Scottish educators to 'collaborate more' and even admit they were lucky because they had the forward thinking teachers they had in computer science. 

This group of political leaders neither appear to want nor are doing much about getting educators connected so our kids can benefit from online collaboration...and the opportunities that come with it.

"Connected Educator Appreciation Day" #CEduAD could help to get more people joining the sessions that I joined during #ECGlobal and learnt everything above from... In time for the next event that Cassie, Vlatka and the team organise.

A Word About... Laggards and Tools

I'm an extreme example but:

1) I'm working from an old refurbished laptop that was £120 in 2013... LinkedIn barely works on it anymore.

2) I'm a laggard - a "late adopter" to new technology, I like hanging out with the innovators but TOTALLY 'get' the concerns of those who are a little bit more apprehensive about new tech tools.

This was perhaps apparent in the sessions that I joined as I wasn't on video, preferring to be involved via text so I could "Think before I spoke" ...and there was the backspace/delete button so I could take things back before I said them ;). 

Getting comfortable with video is most definitely on the "To Do List"

There were sessions that I could not join because of digital access, if we're looking to get more of those who are "Unconnected" we need to make sure they have access to (and are comfortable with) the tools being used.

I totally agree with Jane Jacobs that "young people don't have as much difficulty with new ideas" and feel there's something in the idea of students helping educators getting connected before the next ECGlobal event.

Need evidence of this? My two oldest kids are introverts, they would not thank you for putting them in front of a Classroom Skype call...

My youngest son? I saw how much he took to his first (and only) classroom Skype call like a duck to water... and how much he thrived with it.

I need to follow his lead and get more comfortable with new tools... including video [Sigh].

For the sake of the kids whose world of work will be totally different in a few years time: Get Connected!

You never know... It might even benefit your own career.

I'm not an educator but I think that 67 educators blogged about their #ECGlobal experiences, here's Michael Sinclair's blog about it:

ECGlobal has been wound up

My favourite comment is the bit at the end:

No where else and at no other time have I ever experienced anything like this. I need to be part of this again, and I am dying to be a part of something like this in the UK.

Anyone else interested?

I also notice a few friendly Twitter handles in his movers and shakers section.

Skype Master Student

This is a post about what happened when an EdTech Startup JAM's (Just About Managing) who's having a rough time had an AWESOME day out with his 7 year old son and discussed ideas that were inspired by the amazing Andrea Tolley (@TolleyA) who lives 3,900 miles away from us... but who just might have inspired a Skype Master Student!

On a Skype call with Tim McDonald (@tamcdonald) when trying to explain the rationale of establishing a #CMAD for education, I say something like:

"I want my kids to be able to make Skype calls at school, to connect with the kind of people that I've been able to connect with... But in order to do that a bit of encouragement and hustle is needed"

And that in a nut shell is what I'm working on in between seeing where the wind blows with the troubles that come from some failed EdTech startup ideas and, like many have a startup, proved to have been a bit of 'Optimism Bias.'

Nevertheless, one more project *Just Might* see the goal of having his kids being able to make a Skype call at their schools a reality.

On Tuesday the monthly Microsoft Twitter Edchat took place (#MsftEduChat). The topic was all about Student Voice, and how tools like Flipgrid and Minecraft gave students a voice... there were only a couple of Scottish educators involved in this conversation. So how do we change that?

Here's an idea... Take a leaf out of Jane Jacobs book:

"I put a great deal of faith in young people, they don't have as much trouble accepting new ideas"

Here's a very personal example regarding why this makes a lot of sense...

So we're having a few challenges at the moment because EdTech is tough, and so is startup land... EdTech startups in Scotland are non-existent, as are jobs in Community Management.

Throw in the odd company that decides not to pay you and you're a rung or two below the JAM line.

Zero money and lots of stress mean that it's important to try to help the kids make sense of what's going on and why.

I'm fortunate enough to have some people that my kids have come to know and respect, who do see the value in what I'm doing. On Sunday we took a walk to discuss growing up in Scotland.

"So some people don't see the value in what I've been doing" Says I to my 7 year old son.

"But others do... Remember what Agent Jones (@GoutcherD) told you about my work after your Spy Quest Mission (@SpyQuest)?" I ask him

"Yep. I sure do!" Says he, beaming.

"So who do you believe? Is one of these groups lying?" I ask

"Maybe it's somewhere in the middle" he suggests

We then talk about how Henry Ford would have been seen as a crack pot for thinking that cars would replace horses... and I ask how many horses he can see on the road today as we walk and talk.

Much to the delight of a 7 year old, I ask if he'd believe me if i was to say that the issue of the day was that there was too much horse poop on the road - was an environmental and health concern back in the day - as was the issue of horses if they fainted from exhaustion and caused traffic jams.

We talk about how some people would have continued to make saddles, living in denial that their industry was in decline, and I share the advice from Adapt or Die: How to Cope when the Bots take your job

"Don't carry on making saddles when the car is driving down the street towards you"

I ask how many lamp lighters he sees each night to light the streets, and how all those jobs would have been gone all at once, just like the call centre jobs will soon (Affecting 4% of the Scottish workforce).

I then ask him how he finds out about the latest "Must play game" whether it's through friends talking about it in the playground and "Coming soon messages on the XBox... or whether it's through TV adverts or people calling him to encourage him to buy and play it.

After a single conversation - and at 7 years old - he has a better understanding of the "New Power" (@ThisIsNewPower) ideas that are on the way than some of the politicians that I've tried to engage, who just seem to scratch their head and go "I don't get it"

We then chat about some random stuff and have fun at the park.

Now my youngest son already knows that @TolleyA's students get to play Minecraft and do other cool stuff... He's Skyped with her at home and she's been in the middle of a Minecraft lesson and some of her kids have said "Hi"

He also remembers VERY well the only Classroom Skype call that he's ever made - which was at a different school - a Spy Quest mission which Andrea was a big part of in terms of planning and preparation etc... I know this because he talks about the day all the time!

I ask if he's ever made a Skype call at his school, or if he plays any games or has access to the internet.

He plays a few games during ICT but it's mostly it's the teacher who does things on the internet.

"Do you play Minecraft at home much," A question I obviously know the answer to!

"Do you enjoy chatting with @TolleyA and Jayden on Skype at home?" I ask... Again I know the answer to this question, they have a great time.

"Would you like to talk to them at school? Maybe have them talk about Minecraft with you all? This is what you'd call 'The stupid obvious answer to dumb questions' portion of our conversation.

Then I ask the question...

How do you think you could encourage your teacher and Head Teacher to make that call?

That's what you'd call the near impossible and/or million dollar question and/or the very good question portion of our walk and talk.

"Oh! I don't know Dad!" Is the reply, with a puzzled 'I'm thinking hard here' look on his face

"Do you think you could try?" I ask... "After all kids make the best Sky Guys" 

"Do you think you could go on a mission to get your class to make a Skype call?"

"I Think I Can! I Think I Can! I Think I Can!" comes the reply.

I wonder if there's any Skype Master Teachers or Global Minecraft Mentors (Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink, Oink, Oink @TolleyA), who could help a young would be trainee Skype Master Student?

...And the serious bit at the end
Like the saddle makers, times are changing for everyone... including educators.

They are under resourced, overworked and - in many cases - under valued.

I doubt they ever got taught these tools in teacher training college and the risks if the experimentation may far outweigh any benefits.I was told, by a Microsoft exec, get onto social media, it comes with the job today if you want to be in EdTech... Who is it that's delivering this message to educators?

MsftEduChat this week is a fantastic example of both the number of advocates there are and how much they love these tools that help people connect.

I'm not an educator so won't pretend to know what's involved - but through Twitter and Skype not only have I been able to connect and collaborate with AMAZING people like @Stanbridge, @TolleyA, @GoutcherD and Skype's Ross Smith... But so have my 7 and 17 year old children.

If the tech goes wrong in any way and the culture isn't positive at the school the educator may lose face and may be a reason for the lack of experimentation... But if students were in charge of organising everything?

If it went wrong = "They're digital learners"
If they bossed it = The students confidence would grow and connecting would become second nature
(It probably already IS second nature as they'll probably connect with friends on their Xbox and PS4 at home)

There's uncertainty with what the world of work will look like and, if there's one thing that I've found encourages educators to take a look at new ideas its this: For the sake of the kids.

So why not take a serious look at these tools... What would be required to do this?

Simply reach out to others who do use them and hear their and their students stories.

Hustle While you Wait

"Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits" Thomas Edison

Is the quote I think of as I write this follow up to my Attitude of Gratitude post.

By no means did I want have a presence on social media... if there was a visual representation of my resistance to getting connected, it would be that of a toddler tantrum.

One of the things that saw me hit "Publish" on my first blog post was because I felt that my experiences meant I had some insights of value and a story worth telling... I've been working on the same story ever since I hit "Publish" on that first post... and feel progress is being made.

Through reading "New Power" I am in a far better position to both articulate what I was trying to achieve, and see that the ideas were not wrong... Just a case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time," as one critical friend put it.

As I've highlighted in an early version of a Tech Story 2: The Wild West of the Internet, article which I hope raises awareness of New Power to educators... we're still getting to grips with social media, the impact of tech in the workplace, the gig economy etc.But

• What happens when you want to bring your whole self to work (or in my case 'work')? 
• What happens when things are not going to sell IRL? 
• Do you just put a brave face on with your online persona?
• Or do we take the lead from political leaders like Trump and shoot from the hip and don't mince our words?

Anyway, I'm getting praise for my ability to either connect people and/or get stuff done in a short period of time, here's an idea of the amount of effort that's gone into making some of the projects that have been successful "Just work" in the way that they have:

EdTech Report - Developing Relationships & Delivering Value 9 Months
(Research & "Mind dump" only took 3 months but two complete rewrites took a little longer)

SaveEdShelf $30,000 (in 6 Weeks)

Edchat Resource Plan (And adding chats to Chat Salad) 3 months

Get2ISTE 5 people to ISTE

DigCitSummit 2 months

Declara (Volunteer for 12 months)6 months

(3 additional months supposed to be paid but - despite being told 5 times by 3 CEOs that it would be = $0)

Curating ISTE resources 2 months (Over 3 years)

Pokemon Go in Edu Report 2 months

Scottish Schools on Twitter (2015 & 2017) 4 months

Skypeathon & MIE Experts maps 4 months

Edcamp Maps 2 months

Bloodhound Maps 2 months

That's over 3 years of work - work that regardless of what others think about it - I've felt is important enough to do (And IS getting results) to forego the stability and security of a wage and, as Biz Stone might have put it I was

"Betting on my future self being able to pay for it all"

But it hasn't worked out quite as planned

I thought that the short term pain for getting out of sales and reskilling to community management would pay off, and it may still yet... I can certainly put a compelling argument (And references) forward for being able to demonstrate that I can get the same done in 3 months as it would for a full time sales person.

Job Interview: Where do you see yourself in a year

But it's all a little new ...and/or 
My ideas are a little ahead of their time... and/or
No one in EdTech has any money... and/or 
I live to far outside of the EdTech hubs... and Scotland/Glasgow isn't the best place for people to live 

But the new reality is difficult to accept/adjust too, not least because that:

1) The level of non-payment that I've encountered would be enough to resolve a rather pressing issue
2) The cause of this issue is one of the banks that got bailed out by politicians
3) At a modest rate the value for my time on these projects would be £90,000
4) I KNOW that what I am doing has value! I KNOW how incompetent government backed projects are
5) The system has made me and my efforts feel pretty worthless.

I wonder how much hustle I have left in me... Can't imagine there will be all that much when the only home our kids have known gets repossessed on the 2nd Aug. 

I wonder if it's too late to give a crowdfunder a try... if some guy can get $55,000 for potato salad?!

In the mean time, here's to the 'Leaders' in politics and the banking industry... Two professions that I hope my kids never get involved with, opting instead to take Chris Sacca's advice from his 2011 commencement speech and that they: "Be Helpful" 

An Attitude of Gratitude

This post to thank some of the people, organisations and projects that I've met on my travels over the last few years.

It is a post that's been drafted for over a month, but various stresses and strains - and a dash of procrastination - mean I'm only just getting around to it now.

I'm publishing it today due, in part to the #KilledByMyDebt program, that aired last night.

My World of Work has been an interesting journey and can best be summed up with the following questions I posed to all three of my kids recently:

• A job with lots of money but a mean boss and nothing much to show for your work after 10 years?
• Doing what you love, love what you are doing and being proud of the 'work' even if it doesn't make much money?

I'm delighted to say that all 3 of my kids opted for the latter... and not only that I've tried to give them permission to live a life of purpose and to find projects where you can bring your whole self to 'work,' I've done my best to model this for them.

One way or another things are going to change, in the less mindful/more angry moments the thoughts are along the lines of "I don't know why I bothered," ...that Malcolm Gladwell was right, family background is the only thing that determines life chances. But even in those moments, while I may be skint... I've never been bored, so it definitely beats this kind of scenario:

"The diagnosis is boredom, a much underestimated factor in the explanation of undesirable human conduct. As soon as the word is mentioned, they pounce upon it, almost with relief: recognition of the problem is instant, though they had not thought of it before. Yes, they are bored—bored to the very depths of their being.

Why are they bored, they ask me? The answer, of course, is that they have never applied their intelligence either to their work, their personal lives, or their leisure, and intelligence is a distinct disadvantage when it is not used: it bites back. Reviewing their life stories, they see for the first time that at every point they have chosen the line of least resistance, the least strenuous path. They never received any guidance, because all agreed that one path was as good as another. They never awoke to the fact that a life is a biography, not a series of disconnected moments, more or less pleasurable but increasingly tedious and unsatisfying unless one imposes a purposive pattern upon them" Lost in the Ghetto

In the more positive moments it's more a case that I very much hope the change (Even at this late stage) will be the kind I've been waiting for, but even if it is not and it is more short term pain - I hope that we will either recover or, at the very least, my kids will benefit from the example I've tried to set.

"We don't often look back at what we've accomplished, but now seems like a good time to do so. Not only is nostalgia fun, but it's important to be reminded that anything is possible" Bill Gates via Inside Out - Microsoft in Our Own Words

I thought I would take a moment to thank a few people I have met along the way. I sincerely hope that I have not missed anyone out, my abject apologies if I have.

Education (By Education I Mean School)
I did not do so well at school, but I agree with Thomas Friedman in that you should take subjects of the teachers you like.

I did not excel at Biology, Craft and Design, English or Geography, but I did enjoy the lessons.

I have not used biology or craft and design much in my career, and doubt that I'd get an A for Ikea flat packs... But I have used English and Geography on a regular basis.

I don't think it's any accident that I use the subjects that included my favorite teachers

Thank you to all the educators - formal and informal - that taught me so much

Athletics & Leisure Industry
At 16 I took up athletics and gave this everything I had... with little or no thought of a back up plan, I was going to be a full time athlete.

I recall thinking when I got invited to an invite only international event

"This is either the first of many (And I hope I'm always this excited about each race)... or this is as far as I get and should celebrate the fact"

I worked at minimum wage jobs in the Leisure industry as I got time off to train and compete.

At 26 it was time to call it time. The real success of this period was

1) The people I was in contact with who had successful careers, and
2) Learning how to keep my mind occupied during long runs and spending 8 hours on pool side.
3) The discipline, will power, grit and determination that competing and running 120 miles a week provided

Thank you to all the coaches and athletes that provided so much sound advice.

Open University
When I finished School and was working as a Lifeguard I had the view that education was a snobby and abstract pursuit... not one for people like me. I was later to have the following belief:

"There are two extremes to be avoided: one is the attitude of contempt toward education, the others is the tragic snobbery of assuming that marching through an educational system is a sure cure for ignorance and mediocrity."

In 1999 my Wife got a prospectus for the Open University and, when I saw the Degree on Human Geography, it looked really interesting! When I looked at the individual courses I signed up.

I was not a great student in school, enjoyed the classes and was well behaved enough, but not the best results... nor did I read much for pleasure.

I got a Karl Marx biography, read William Cronon's "Natures Metropolis" and Jane Jacob's "Life and Death of Great American Cities" for prep before starting the course.

It was not until I was 29 years of age that I picked up a book and read for leisure... And that has made ALL the difference.

Today when packing up and moving out of our Vince-Cable-Government-Bailed-Out-NRAM-mortgage-withi-24-hours... packing the bookshelf up was really tough and one of the worst things about living in temporary accommodation is having so few books around.

Cold Calling
I worked in customer service for a while which was pretty much a dead end job and, with few options, felt that sales might be a good route to progression and took a job at £100 per week (Before minimum wage) and went up once you hit the set targets.

I went on to become the top sales person, but grew more and more concerned that clients were not getting value for money and were being misled... and as a mere sales person, had limited input regarding the practices employed.

I spent a year looking for the right job. I had 7 interviews and got offered every position I applied for... but felt that it would be more of the same.

Field Sales
I applied for a job in field sales and after 5 minutes of the first interview was told,

"I'm going to want to see you again... I've never seen anyone as organised as you" (The information I take to interviews includes lots of detail and evidence of projects I've worked on)

In the second interview I was told
"I could not have someone like you come through the door and see them go by... I don't have a role for your skill set, so I've made one!"

My skills were not where they needed to be and I lasted 3 months... but returned 12 months later in an operations role and excelled in every post that I held at an organisation with 5 members of staff but grew to over 30.

I spent 10 years with this organisation, worked in a number of different projects/roles and developed a number of skills and insights.

Culture & The 5 Stages of Decline
Education is a tricky business... not least because of the variances of politicians Every Child Matters (ECM) and National Indicators under Blair, Department for Education and Skills get replaced with BIS when Blair and Brown fall out, David Cameron scraps ECM for epic fail The Big Society.

In their infinite wisdom they bail the Too-Big-To-Fail-But-Not-Made-a-Profit-When-Money-is-Their-Job-in-Ten-Years-and-Just-Been-Fined-£3.6billion-and-Closing-Lots-of-Branches-#GoDo-RBS

These "Austerity" conditions made working in the education sector and decision making problematic and I was fortunate enough to see what it was like to experience conditions that I felt were consistent with Jim Collins' "5 Stages of Decline"

Painful to live and work through... but one of the best things ever to happen in a professional capacity.

For evidence of this just look at my insights re: The SNP being in decline two days after their record result in 2015... and being accurate about every election since 2014 too.

Social Nation 
Up until 2010 everything achieved was done using phone and email, I had no digital footprint. When setting new long term goals I included: Work at Major Tech org

A quick call round some education leads at Microsoft, Google and Apple the advice is:

Social Media comes with the job if you want to be in EdTech today

Social Nation - Barry Liebert
At the next AoC Marketing Conference I go to the complaint is

"We're being asked to do more with less, but are not able to use Social Media" 

Thanks to the advice from some Microsoft Execs I've been reading Social Nation and my first ever tweet leads to collaborating with the author on my Twitter in FE Report, which remains relevant (And the situation largely unchanged 5 years on: Because Edu & EdTech is tough).

Barry reviewed countless drafts over a 6 month period until the report was good enough to publish.

THANK YOU! Barry! I'm sure that other reports would not have followed if it wasn't for this support!!

Fake FriendsTwo former colleagues at the company above started their own company and asked me to join them on three separate occasions... on the third (And due to the company above down sizing), I agreed to join them.

I set out my career goals before joining them (Uncannily like Community Management) and when I left asked

"What is there here in my career goals doc that I have not delivered on?"
"Nothing!" came the reply... "We just didn't know what was involved"

The founders wanted me to bring money in from the Education sector but refused to provide the resources required as they were spending it all on other sectors

Not the best fit and I'll think twice before working with 'friends' (The more recent #DigCitSummit experience where I was a volunteer has added to this with: Today I look at the actions of friends and collaborators more than any flowery words they come out with!)

But the troubles from this 18 month period were worth it for the Informatics Ventures/MIT workshop
"Entreprenurial Product Marketing: Listening to the Voice of the Customer"

I got 8 out of the 10 recommended reading books on Bill Aulet's website after this event... And WOW!

A Lesson in Product Market Fit
I wrote my Business Development Ideas for FE in collaboration with Hubspot with 11 ideas that innovative companies were using that I felt could apply to education.

I had over 300 colleges come back to me after sending a single email about the "College Commercial Services" idea within two weeks.

At the same time I worked on a year long Social Norms pilot project with 3 colleges and, when the indicative results came out... had 5 local authorities committing £15,000 within 2 weeks (£75,000 in total).

Collaborating and co-creating with users + not scaling until "product market fit" had been achieved = the way forward.

These two project was the reason I felt at home when I found the #Cmgr community (And why The Community Manager Round Table State of Community Management 2018 is such a big deal!)

Market Research - EdTech Report
I took the experience of these books and tried to apply them to my EdTech Report - Developing Relations and Delivering Value.

I'm extremely grateful to the awesome authors for sharing their experiences in their books AND for kindly giving me permission for using the extracts from these invaluable books.

Every project that I have worked on since has it's basis in this report.

EdShelf
From exploring the companies who were part of the Imagine K12 EdTech incubators in 2011 I was aware of EdShelf and, because I was planning on doing something similar in UK Further Education, I wondered if we'd meet and collaborate somewhere over the Atlantic.

In July 2014 I saw a heartfelt post that EdShelf CEO had written to say that he was closing shop. I wrote a post in support of EdShelf and EdTech review sites... and pre-service teacher (And Twitter newbie) Alicia Leanard successfully secured $30,000 from a SaveEdShelf Kickstarter campaign.

I am grateful to EdShelf and for helping me see that the idea I had spent 2+ years on in FE were sound... the sector was not.

Despite having worked with over 50% of FE colleges in the past, the decisions of the banks and politicians that led to "Austerity" meant that the public sector budgets and mindsets were frozen.

Nurph & Chat Salad
I found out about Nurph and Chat Salad via a Community Manager Google Hangout #Cmgrhangout, had a few conversations with Neil Cauldwell about Twitter EdChats and pulled a few resources together.

It's sad that I've nothing to show for all the time and work put into curating all this information as the Nurph and Chat Salad apps are down... But I'm grateful that this work allowed me to establish a relationship with EdChat moderators.

Some of these connections and conversations - even if just a brief side convo consisting of 2-3 Tweets - REALLY helped. For example 40 companies being mentioned 400 times in the first few weeks followed by a convo with Susan Bearden during EdTechChat helped me to see that Educators would soon be taking roles that would traditionally have gone to EdTech sales people.

PledgeCents
It was fantastic to be able to help get a few educators to ISTE through Pledgecents and #Get2ISTE.

I maintain that this idea could go mainstream and help with other education crowdfunding projects, but requires a little hustle.

Declara
At the end of 2010 I made some new career goals one of which was "Work at a hot shot Silicon Valley startup," through being an active member of the Declara community, I achieved this goal.

As someone who tells their kids that they can do anything they set their mind to (IF they prepare and do their best), I am extremely grateful to Ramona Pierson and James Stanbridge for helping me achieve this.

DigCitSummitUK
While the core values, motivation and friendship of the "Safe. Savvy. Ethical" #DigCitSummit Founders may have been questionable, I am extremely grateful to everyone who took time out of their busy schedule and got involved with this event through my recommendation.

It was also through this movement that helped me to write one of the best posts I've ever written:

Using Core Values to Find a Brands Voice

#CmgrHangout/CMAD
Through the Infomatic Ventures/Bill Aulet workshop I saw how and why my sales calls and emails were becoming less and less welcome.

Through reading books like Inbound Marketing, Social Nation, Crossing the Chasm, Why Startups Fail etc I discovered what to do about the fact that cold calling was dead.

The impact that #CmgrHangout and CMAD has had on reskilling from sales to community management cannot be underestimated.

Pokemon Go
Remember Pokemon Go? Remember the 6 weeks in which every man and his dog in education had an opinion about the role that this AR game was going to have in Education?

I sure do! Because I read hundreds of articles about it during that period and tried to make sense of what everyone was saying. They were not terms at the time, but I tried to make sense of all the 'Fake News' from the facts and to save educators time by organising and summarising what was being said.

This was a great opportunity to demonstrate how ideas get traction, and how companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple etc work 'Under the radar' and make the early version invite only - usually with techies before rolling the product or service out.

Pokemon Go became an overnight success after 2-3 years of serious hustle.

This also highlighted ideas from Crossing the Chasm regarding how and where the tech enthusiast educators can actually hamper the adoption of technology as well as progressing the use of tech in their schools and districts.

Skypeathon
When you look at the data from events like the 2015 Skypeathon, where hundreds of educators across the world are connecting and collaborating... but only 2 in Scotland (Or 40 or so across the UK).

A little bit of work is required... and whose doing any work with this? The people who stand up at conferences and say "Educators need to collaborate more?" the "We want to empower educators" Education Secretary a role where it's a different person every 4 years who's record with the Attainment Gap, inspiring educators, literacy and many other areas = "Could do better" (That's an understatement!)

In 2010 I set out to work with Google, Apple or Microsoft and, as far as me telling my kids "they can do anything they set their mind to" is concerned, I'm calling this activity a win... I collaborated with, and got the attention of, Microsoft.

Edcamps
When Carrie Melissa Jones' CMX article came out about Edcamps and the fact that there was no central mailing list... I put my skills for sourcing sales leads to good use to go looking for as many Edcamps as I could.

The Edcamp Foundation estimated that there were 1,500 Edcamps. I found 2,100 but some of them may not have taken place... I plotted 1,900 on one of my Zeemaps

TolleyA
Through exploring Edcamps I got a sense of how much Flipgrid (Who I first heard about in 2014/5) had grown. As of 2017 they had not appeared in any ISTE or BETT exhibitor list, but they did appear frequently in Edcamp sponsors and supporters.

I suggested a pre-ISTE #FlipGridFever event in 2017 and met Ambassador Andrea Tolley and her Son Jayden and we've connected, collaborated and chatted with one another since then.

Andrea is the reason that I want to see more educators in Scotland connect via tools like Twitter and Skype... More to follow on this topic in a forthcoming "Skype Master Student" post.

@TolleyA has helped us out at such a horrible time... in more ways than I think even she knows, I'm extremely grateful to know people like her!

https://twitter.com/EdTech_Stories/status/991771806062338049

Oracle & Spy Quest
Tech and EdTech companies have no problem in expressing their exasperation with how behind the times educators are and frustration about the lack of uptake for their exciting, shiny new gadget/gizmo.

But how many of them need to take their own advice when it comes to cold calling and sending spammy emails? How many employ sales and marketing people Vs community managers?

I had the privilege of collaborating with both James Stanbridge and Spy Quest author David Goutcher to demonstrate the value of pulling the relevant data together and present it in a way that educators can find and assess quickly and easily.

I knew James through working with him at Declara and found out about Spy Quest through East Kilbride MSP, Linda Fabiani.

One of the highlights of my career in education is the day that my son joined me in my work - and turned Pirate Spy Guy: Spy Quest Mission.

We tell our kids that their words are the most powerful things in the world, so it's fitting that one of my most prized possessions from my time in education is the comment at the end of the blog post above:

Hey William - you have a different eye; I constantly feel for you, the visionaries dillema is that just because you can see it so clearly, it doesn't mean translating for the blind is any easier... but still you plug away and I admire your rectitude. Wozniak is an interesting role model for you, but like Woz, you know that your mission is diminished if no-one knows what you are doing. Woz, despite everything, he has become a cultural icon, and many many people would identify as being 'on his team'; those he has and never will meet or be in the same room with share a set of values and aspirations and he becomes an accidental leader.

I think there is a simpler way to think about this; you can never lead by following. That defines a tough, sometimes impossibly lonely path.

These too are tough lessons for our Children, our instincts are often to guide them on the path of least resistance. But resilience is what got us here, so why wouldn't we pass that along too? Staying true to our core, standing up for what believe, being creative in the face of sameness. Why I mention these things is that Skype and Twitter and their ilk are the most dangerous or most powerful tools the difference being the user and their choice to be resilient or compliant to the crowd.

Thank you again for being the agent of debate, the facilitator or data and the connector of invisible dots - but most for role modeling resilience. James Stanbridge (@Stanbridge)

I'm doing what I can to help one more project on it's way... one that I hope will finally see my kids be able to make a Skype call with other educators, classes and industry experts in the hope that some of the people will help to inspire them in the way that many of the people I've met on my travels have inspired me.

The irony of it all is that I've longed to find a group where the sense of belonging that Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant achieved through the early online community The Well and just when it feels like I've found it, it's time to move on.

I knew the risks, knew the chances of success... The "Wild West of the Internet" is no different to the fact that for every one of the 49ers who struck it lucky there were as many who went home broke (And no doubt broken) - I tried to reskill to areas that I thought would be in demand when cold calling and bots replaced me in my old job, I don't think I was wrong... just a little too early, or perhaps it's because Bill Aulet was right when I met him in 2010: EdTech is tough.