There are anomalies in the realm of technology.  Perhaps they are stereotypes more than truths, but then, things are called stereotypes for a reason. I used to get teased a lot in a previous job, because I was so enthusiastic about technology that sometimes I would forget that I was using words and phrases that were meaningless to my non-techy friends. But at the same time, these same colleagues were (for the most part!) enthusiastic about using technology to improve their practice.  My role then, was to change my style of communication to improve their experience.

On a much, much bigger scale that’s exactly what I’ve tried to do in this job.  The difficulty now is that I can’t hear you shouting “Propeller Beanie!” or “Adjust the Flux Capacitor!” at the screen. I’m also well aware that people who are uncomfortable with technology are also resentful of being bombarded with electronic messages. And so I suppose this is more about the Feedback side of Communication. For the first few weeks in my uncoordinated capacity, the silence was real, and I wasn’t sure how my weekly updates were being received. But slowly, the information started to flow in both directions, and I was encouraged that I wasn’t being obnoxious, spammy or redundant. And then I found the final key: Send out a message about something they are passionate about, and you will get feedback.

Converting PDFs to editable documents?  Not a hot button topic.

SMARTBoards in the classroom? The gates were flooded.

And so I learned that keeping the gates of communication open is important, and to make sure that there are opportunities for the flow to change direction effortlessly.