I'm Happy it isn't 1977 : Friends & Connectivity

When I was a kid in the late 70's I used to go to Camp Tecumseh  for a week each summer, it was this great camp about 45 minutes from my house.  I would go for a week, stay in a cabin, sing songs, ride horses, do crafts and make dozens of new friends that I swore I would never forget.   We would bring our address books, trade letters for a bit, but after a time you typically stop writing….connectivity broken. I lived only an hour or so from most of the other campers but when you are 10 it might as well be 1,000 miles!

Fast forward to the connectivity we have today...

Last week I received good news/bad news.  I am always happy for a colleague when they have new opportunities and move on, but I MISS them.  This friend in particular I will miss.
Sarah Field and  I have worked on  several big project together and with others, Our Ignite Talks, The #MYParty12 project and currently our Global Happiness Project. You see Sarah lives in California and I live in Indiana, we can probably count the times we have seen each other face to face on two hands (and maybe some toes) .  All of these projects came to be FIRST through virtual collaboration, usually an IM with something like

Do you have a sec? I have this idea…

Then off we go!  We create google docs, video chats, phone calls and lots and lots of creativity, critical friends and learning.  The project gets bigger and bigger, then we edit it back, and keep crafting until we land where we want.  I wish for everyone to have someone in their PLN that is this kind of thought partner.

The thing is with digital tools, we can keep doing this, I am confident we will still be thought partners and friends and most likely will come up with a way to roll out more projects together!

I am so glad I met Sarah through New Tech Network and not at Camp Tecumseh!

"Was This Debate Civil?: Observations from HS Students

Last night I fired up my tweetchat using the #MYParty12 hashtag. I knew some schools & students in the New Tech Network were planning on tweeting using it since many of them are in the middle of a project exploring the Election, Government & Civic Responsibility.

I wasn't sure how many students would participate, we continue to hear that the young are apathetic about politics.

 Wow! Over 500 tweets flew across my screen, they were flying as fast at the #edchat feed! Here are a few student observations:

This is just a small sampling of what the students had to say. You can catch the complete stream at this storify archive . (Did you know if you add /slideshow to the storify url you can view as a slideshow? I like reading it better that way)
Some tweets from students that stood out to me were around civility, lack of debate protocol and simple good manners.  I wonder if, as a voter for over 2 decades,  I haven't become somewhat calloused to the lack of civility in this debate process.  The eyes of the students provided a fresh view for me. New Tech Network students are steeped in the words "trust, respect & responsibility". I'm thinking the candidates could benefit from a workshop led by them!

 

Keep following #MYParty12, these students are in this for the long haul, they are creating their OWN parties & platforms based on the issues they believe to be important.