My Business - My Classroom (Week 4)

My Business – My Classroom (Week 4)

There were two things in this weeks Friedman readings that I felt related well to the educational atmosphere. The first one was “Rule #4: And the big shall act small…” I think this is something we have touched on in the previous weeks’ discussions in dealing with how important customer service is to a company’s survival. While it may not seem as though this really relates to the education and school spectrum, it is so incredibly important! Our school district serves about 10,000 students total and our “business” is to educate each and every one of those students. When I think about the fact that I am responsible for teaching 115 students everyday, it sounds a little intimidating. Imagine these were customers and you had to meet with each customer everyday. While my “customers” get more comfortable with the business I run, our relationship builds. Along with this I am able to continually focus my energy on reaching each and every student. If I were to have a blanket method of teaching my business would not succeed. The same goes for any business. If a business is not flexible and able to adapt to the different demands of other companies and potential clients they will lose those clients. The same is true with teachers. If you are not adapting to the individual needs of your students, then you are not servicing the client to your best ability. When this happens, there are increased failure rates, student and parent complaints, administrative meetings, and finally disciplinary action. The business (teacher) will not survive.

Within this rule, Friedman also states that businesses will need to help their customers act really big. I think this is one of the ultimate goals of teachers. We are constantly trying to aid students in their skills and just as importantly in their confidence and decision-making. I am constantly trying to hone my students questioning skills, which will in turn make them more productive and better communicators. Businesses should be doing the same for their clients. By being able to better communicate between companies productivity and innovation will increase as well.

The second thing that I felt related well to the educational atmosphere was that of the last chapter “What Happens when we All have Dog’s Hearing?” The concerns listed in Friedman’s book about digital footprints are things that today’s youth need to be made more aware of. Teenagers are still developing their critical thinking skills and cause and effect relationships. The number of times a day I hear about what one student posted about another or about what one student’s “status” was on their social network, is unreal. The social impact the Internet has had on teenagers is obvious. The article by Gartner has his number ten change being that there will no longer be offices and that everything necessary will be able to be housed in a phone or computer. This constant accessibility is causing a hindrance for my students already. I listen to students complain about how they didn’t get enough sleep because they kept texting all night or were updating their social networking site. These impacts have moved over into the business world of teaching as well. The constant connectivity of students and teachers has definitely placed them in what Friedman claims the “Age of Interruptions.” Teachers have been having those board meetings seven times a day for years, and beginning them by stating “please put all electronic devices away, on silent, and take out your earbuds.” This is a constant battle in the classroom and it is evolving into an issue for teachers as well. The accessibility of Internet has provided outlets that students are trying to tap into at all times during the day. It is also providing a resource for teachers to stay connected to their life outside of school. While both of these things can be helpful in several ways, there are many drawbacks to them as well. As leaders we need to be able to harness this power and guide our clients or students through it together. We need to educate our employees and provide positive examples in order to  build the most successful and productive businesses we can.

Converge and Emerge: Week 3

Converge and Emerge

                Friedman’s concept of Triple Convergence really emphasizes his idea of the world being flat. The three convergences (flatteners, business practices, and demographics) truly bring the world together by making it so companies have to communicate and work together to make the products society is demanding. It is with this thought that I think the role of leadership now has shifted more towards the delegation and experience side of things.

                While it’s great that technology has enhanced several aspects of companies and provided the opportunity for different departments to communicate, there will always be a need for a person to oversee everything. I think this leader needs to have knowledge in all areas of the business, but more importantly, know exactly who to go to when more information is needed.  I see leaders now along the same lines of general contractors in construction. These people need to know the codes for the buildings being built, but they do not necessarily need to know how to do all of the tasks needed to get there. They need to be able to delegate to those “experts” while remaining informed of the changes and decisions made along the way. I do not completely agree with Friedman’s idea that there really are no experts anymore. I definitely think there are experts and that we expect these people to continue to stay on top of the up and coming technology and information within that field. The general contractors or leaders need to have the ability and knowledge to send people to these experts when they are seeking specific information.

                I also think leaders today need to use the web-based tools like Dropbox and GoTo Meeting so that different departments can share documents and have meetings. Dropbox or GoogleDocs would allow these different groups to collaborate and have access to information they normally would not be privy to. In the education realm we always say not to “reinvent the wheel” when we are looking for new activities, worksheets, or quizzes to use. If we had that nice Dropbox full of these shared activities we would be able to have a much more diverse classroom. We have already started using GoogleDocs by collaborating together on writing our second semester final. We were able to continually add to the questions that others have created and leave comments or questions about them. If businesses were able to pull up a form or an article that another group used for their information, the big idea may become much clearer for the reviewers. If the employees know who to go to for information, they may be more productive as well, since they would not need to do the research. Sharing all of this information is a great step towards converging within a business and allows the leader to keep their work on a broad scale instead of dealing with little projects all of the time.

                Another role I think leaders will be expected to have in this new age of knowledge management is that of experience and guidance. Experience alone brings about a different realm of knowledge besides that found on the internet or in books. For instance, someone can read all about laws and about being a lawyer, but until they actually step into a courtroom and deal with real cases, they will not truly know what it is like and what it takes. Experience allows leaders to empathize, sympathize, guide, and critique their employees. I think it is with this personal element that we are able to separate our good leaders from our great leaders. I realize that I am the one that is usually spouting about how we need to use technology more and the personal side can drop to the wayside, but it is with this personal element that I feel leaders stand out. I often think besides making big decisions, leaders are often asked “what should I do?” or “what would you do?” by their employees. By having experience, leaders would then be able to guide their employees in a more appropriate, better informed direction.

                With all of this being said, I have decided that Friedman’s triple convergence has brought with it an emergence of better informed employees which has created or will create better leaders, and therefore more productive companies. By using the knowledge of the employees, whether in the US or in an outsourced country, companies are now able to bring the best and brightest together to create those products that societies demand. It is through this convergence that new products and ideas emerge.

Week 3 #2: My School Convergence...or Lack There Of

This is a separate post from my other week 3 post. It is discussing my own school and it's lack of convergence. Any ideas on what I can do as a teacher is much appreciated.

Convergence in the Schools

                Friedman’s ideas about the triple convergence make sense and really made me think about how this is affecting me as a teacher. First off, I think there are several people and administrators in my district that are trying to maintain the hierarchy of knowledge and not using technology as much as they should. There are often times where the students know more about what is happening in the school or district before the teachers. It is as though the administration is afraid of the backlash of teacher ideas or opinions, when really all we really want is to be able to know the happenings so we can have factual discussions with our students instead of having rumors flying around. If the administration would use some of the workflow software such as Google Docs and any meeting software, we would be able to have a short meeting or discussion about whatever is happening. Instead, we as teachers are stuck in Jarche’s hierachical triangle while our students are floating around in the wirearchical world of knowledge. The last big thing that happened at our school was a break in and we found out officially who was involved through the news which our students told us was just posted. Needless to say, we never found anything out from our district.

                It seems as though our district is stuck in convergence two with departments not using the same technology and therefore not able to talk to and understand each other. Our high level specialists are not talking to the administrators who are not talking to the teachers. We have a pyramid on the level of communication as well as the level of technology. I made this figure to represent my views of technology use and communication within our district. As you can see, the largest group at the bottom, students, are the ones with the technology and therefore information in their hands. It progressively gets less as we go up the hierarchy towards our administration. The administration is able to provide the technology for us, but their use of it is quite limited or very different from what the teachers and students are using. Administration is losing touch with what is out there.

                This brings me to convergence three where Friedman talked about collaboration instead of competition with other countries. On a smaller scale we can look at it as groups within businesses or schools. Administration should be collaborating with teachers and even students as to where to proceed in the future instead of trying to be so powerful. The students want to have a good education and a good school. They are on a different level though. They are able to get information with only truly needing a teacher there to guide them. Given the opportunity and the resources I think we would be surprised with what our students can do, and I think it scares people. The same goes with businesses. The entire basis of the show Undercover Boss on CBS seems to show how disconnected some managers are with their employees and companies. Each company has employees that deal with their customers on a daily basis but seem to speak a different language than the managers. While I am sure the managers are not meaning for this to happen, it is happening. Working horizontally with each other would provide ownership for each member of the business or school and therefore possibly produce amazing and unexpected results.

Let's Meet, but Not Really - Week Two - Live Conferencing

Let’s Meet, but Not Really

          With the capabilities of the internet and new technology, businesses have been able to expand. This expansion has taken place through the use of several different tools including live conferencing. Live conferencing, usually known as videoconferencing, has been around for many years however. Wikipedia states that videoconferencing was used as early as 1936 in Berlin. Businesses were able to send video feed through radio frequencies and broadcast on television sets (wiki skype). After several failed attempts by companies such as AT&T, video telephoning became possible in the 1980s using an ISDN network. This was still difficult to use with a $100,000 computer necessary. In the 1990s this was quickly replaced by a much cheaper circuit board and technology continued to evolve to make videoconferencing available to the public at a reasonable price (wiki skype). In the 2000s, thanks to free services via the internet, videoconferencing was easily accessible to the general public. High definition videoconferencing was first introduced in 2005 and has now become a standard (wiki skype). Now in the 2010s, we are seeing videoconferencing being used worldwide and spanning all age groups. You are able to not only use your computer, but you can use your cellular device, personal gaming systems, tablets, or even your phone in conjunction with your television. There are currently 1.8 billion hours of video calls made each year and it continues to grow (skype visual).

            There are several different live conferencing tools available for personal and business use. Each tool has the same basic functions involving video, file sharing, and instant messaging. There are however, slight variations between companies. The main live conferencing tool, and probably the most popular, I am going to focus on is Skype, it’s history, uses, and applications.  

Skype was created in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. It was founded and is currently headquartered in Luxembourg. Skype has gone from strictly a videoconferencing tool on the computer to a tool that can be used on land line phones and cellular phones. They have the capabilities to not only videoconference, but text, talk across continents, and access WiFi (http://about.skype.com/). In 2005, Ebay purchased Skype and hoped to form a solid partnership with them and PayPal. At the time, Skype serviced 54 million members in 225 countries and territories adding approximately 150,000 users a day (ebay). There were several complaints over the course of a few years and Ebay ended up selling the company to a group of investors (ebaysells). Skype has henceforth partnered with Microsoft and has continued to grow astronomically. It is available in 27 languages and aids communication for people on a personal and professional level.

Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of Skype. Skype can be used on a personal level by videoconferencing and through regular telephone. It ranks among the top international phone companies as far as rates go and is highly recommended for its service (http://about.skype.com/). Businesses will be able to use this feature as well so they can reach their outsourced companies in other countries and gain new clients. This can also be done through the videoconferencing capabilities of Skype. Companies are now able to have a conversation, “meet” the people they are doing business with, and share files as well when used computer to computer. Companies can hold stakeholders meetings without needing to have everyone in the same room.

I use Skype in my work place daily. Being a high school teacher, I think Skype is almost a necessity for me now. I am constantly informing teachers and deans when I am sending students to them and what the situation is. In business terms, it cuts out the middleman. Information is received directly from the source without anything getting muddled during transport. As mentioned before, it is also an amazing tool for file sharing. Teachers are constantly asking for more collaboration time, but with Skype collaboration is much easier. Teachers can share their activities and worksheets with each other while having a conversation either through instant message or talking. The videoconferencing allows for guest speakers to “come in” without having to actually be in the school. With the upgrades in projector and video software the interview is clear and still allows students to ask questions as though they were there. Others and myself have even used Skype in our classrooms while we were on maternity leave. When our substitutes were supposed to be teaching a difficult lesson I would have them wire me in through Skype and I was able to teach. The possibilities for Skype in the classroom are as endless as they are in any business.

There are specific business plans Skype has in place for companies to purchase as well. They range from home office to enterprise and include features such as group conferencing and international calling capabilities (http://about.skype.com/). There are several different companies worldwide using Skype. This is one area that allows people to have their one-on-one interaction without having to personally meet. I think Skype is allowing us to keep a personal connection within our businesses and keep that trust within our companies. It also provides employees with a necessary connection to family while away on business. The main example I can think of for this is the military. The use of Skype in the military is an amazing tool for families to stay close. There was even a wedding that took place over Skype for a military person (skypewedding)! There are several stories on the Skype website (stories) that give examples of how Skype is enhancing people’s lives all over the world.

The future for Skype is bright. It’s partnership with Microsoft opens up several new avenues for communication and expands the user base as well. While airlines may not enjoy the uses of Skype and its videoconferencing tools, I am sure several other businesses are grateful for the money they are saving on plane tickets. I am very excited to see the future of videoconferencing and what is in store for us. Who knows, maybe the next season of one of our reality shows will be via computer and video conferencing! :o)

* This is a link to great poster and visual of how big videoconferencing is in today’s world.

Friedman's Flat World - New Idea?

While to some it may seem as though Friedman’s idea of the world being flat is revolutionary, I tend to think that he is behind the times already.  Much of the technology that he discusses in chapter one is technology that, at least for me, has been around for several years and is not that new in 2012. I think I will be looking at this book from quite a different viewpoint than others considering I had not even graduated from college when it was first published and had only one year remaining for my online Masters degree. I have had access to the Internet and therefore global communication since I was in the seventh grade. It is normal to me to be able to gather any sort of information I could want and any time I want it. Friedman did bring up some good thoughts however when he discussed technology’s impact on outsourcing.  

I think the two most interesting stories Friedman told about “outsourcing” dealt with JetBlue and McDonalds. While the thought of having employees stay at home is not necessarily new, I think the reasoning Neeleman (JetBlue founder) has for what he has coined “homesourcing” is incredibly sound. By allowing women the opportunity to work from home and still maintain their role of mother and wife adds one more dimension to their life. The level of trust placed on these employees shows the increased expectations the company places on them. The way Friedman wrote about this company did make me question if there were men working for them at home as well or just women? By providing higher productivity it also allows the company to increase service in other sectors. The same is true for McDonalds.

The idea of the drive-thru call center is ingenious. The fact that it cut down errors by two percent and allowed one percent more to be put back into the company may not seem like much, but when you think about the number of McDonalds restaurants in the United States, you are really talking about billions of dollars and burgers (the sign says so right?). After talking to the main workforce for McDonalds, my high school students, they were amazed at this thought. Then the fact came out of how difficult it really is to work drive-thru, something we as adults would not really think as being tough.  They were totally in favor of this idea and technology. They said that it would then free up the workers inside the restaurant to do other customer servicing like cleaning and actually greeting/talking to the customers. What better people to talk to about shaping expectations and perspectives in the workplace then the workers right? Teenagers expect to see this technology in businesses. They are also the ones more adept to using it.  While it may astound some of us, it is as stated before, “normal” to them.

Building off of this “normal” I would like to refute Friedman’s idea of the world being flat and instead challenge the thought of the world being a sphere again. Mathematically speaking, no matter where you place yourself on a sphere you are in the middle of something. Everyone has the availability of being in the middle. Both Friedman and Florida (“The World is Spiky”) discuss the economic centers of the world. Friedman however goes along with my thought that anyone can be a productive member of society while Florida leans more towards the idea that to bring about new ideas, you need nurturing from others in the same location. While Florida has good points about the rural areas slowly decreasing in terms of patents, Friedman takes a broader view of the economy. I think Friedman is much closer to reality than Florida is.

Friedman shares the thought that we are each in the middle. The technology that is available to connect people, businesses, and governments is readily available. Everyday people are becoming famous overnight, whether it be from their talent in singing, a tweet or blog they posted about their school, or an application they created to make their life easier. Social media is allowing people to be heard and educated without having to be formally introduced or instructed. Employers are able to run an entire company without having to meet their employees personally and can pass along decisions via networking. Technology is there and I think we need to have the expectation in every work place that it is to be utilized. The idea of “there’s an app for that” really is true and has the capabilities of saving companies and people time and money. Why, as a government, are we still printing off one-hundred page laws to get passed instead of using our Ipads to read, highlight, comment, collaborate, adjust, change, and present these new laws? For those who think there is a huge shift that is about to happen, I have news for you, it’s already happened and you are now playing catch-up.