The Education Bazaar

There I was, having coffee, enjoying the sunrise, and reading an amusing article in today’s Computerworld about how IBM’s proprietary technology is ready now to bring Web 2.0 to the business world:

IBM last week launched an effort to extend Web 2.0 to the corporate world by unveiling team collaboration, social computing and Web mashup development tools.

The new Quickr 8, Lotus Connections and Info 2.0 products are part of IBM’s new “Web 2.0 Goes to Work” initiative, which aims to expand business use of popular consumer technologies like blogs, wikis and social networks, said Rod Smith, vice president of emerging technologies.

Web 2.0 technology can help workers more easily brainstorm and collaborate with one another and with corporate partners and customers, explained Smith.

John Tincher, global Lotus Notes administrator at Flint Group North America, said that his firm has made limited use of Web 2.0 technologies to date and that he doubts they will become business-critical in the near term. “Having the social networking at some point will be wonderful, but I don’t see it taking root at least for another couple of years in our environment,” he said.

Computerworld Article

And that’s when the trouble started

As silly as this article is in presuming that the corporate world needs Lotus to lead the way with proprietary software CHARMINGLY named using a synonym for term wiki – Quickr 8? Uh, folks, Ward Cunningham says”wiki” means “quick” in Hawaiian – I wouldn’t normally post about non-education items.

So why am I agititated? Computerworld throws this disturbing segment in near the top:

Vijay Sonty, CIO for Broward County Public Schools in Sunrise, Fla., said that the tools won’t likely benefit the K-12 education sector until IBM can come up with specific features needed there.

For example, the Web 2.0 tools should support training programs for the district’s 15,000 teachers and add the security capabilities required to receive federal monies, he said.

Vijay….what are you smoking, buddy? As “CIO” of our district’s educational technology department, I’m excited to have wiki and other tools for collaborative work. In fact, I am a non-IT guy, but can’t believe the impact Web 2.0 has had our organization’s ability to do the very things that you say can’t yet occur.

There I was, having coffee, enjoying the sunrise, and reading an amusing article in today’s Computerworld about how IBM’s proprietary technology is ready now to bring Web 2.0 to the business world:

IBM last week launched an effort to extend Web 2.0 to the corporate world by unveiling team collaboration, social computing and Web mashup development tools.

The new Quickr 8, Lotus Connections and Info 2.0 products are part of IBM’s new “Web 2.0 Goes to Work” initiative, which aims to expand business use of popular consumer technologies like blogs, wikis and social networks, said Rod Smith, vice president of emerging technologies.

Web 2.0 technology can help workers more easily brainstorm and collaborate with one another and with corporate partners and customers, explained Smith.

John Tincher, global Lotus Notes administrator at Flint Group North America, said that his firm has made limited use of Web 2.0 technologies to date and that he doubts they will become business-critical in the near term. “Having the social networking at some point will be wonderful, but I don’t see it taking root at least for another couple of years in our environment,” he said.

Computerworld Article

And that’s when the trouble started

As silly as this article is in presuming that the corporate world needs Lotus to lead the way with proprietary software CHARMINGLY named with a synonym for the term “wiki” – Quickr 8? Uh, folks, Ward Cunningham says”wiki” means “quick” in Hawaiian - I wouldn’t normally post about non-education items.

So why am I agititated? Computerworld throws this disturbing segment in near the top:

Vijay Sonty, CIO for Broward County Public Schools in Sunrise, Fla., said that the tools won’t likely benefit the K-12 education sector until IBM can come up with specific features needed there.

For example, the Web 2.0 tools should support training programs for the district’s 15,000 teachers and add the security capabilities required to receive federal monies, he said.

Vijay….what are you smoking, buddy? As “CIO” of our district’s educational technology department, I’m excited to have wiki and other tools for collaborative work. In fact, I am a non-IT guy, but can’t believe the impact Web 2.0 has had our organization’s ability to do the very things that you say can’t yet occur.

See this example from our district:

BSSD OpenContent Wiki – 6,500+ pages of teacher & student created curriculum content and resources
http://wiki.bssd.org/

More importantly, what are these missing “security capabilities” for Web 2.0 tools that are “required to receive federal monies”?

Now, Vijay Sonty is well respected in the field, and has done some impressive things with Broward County School District’s technology initiatives. I’m not trying to diminish his expertise, and accomplishments in matters IT…but I beg to differ when it comes to the current potential for use of Web 2.0 tools in schools.

What hacks me off here is that this article, which quotes a very visible educational technology leader, is one of many that seems positioned to spread misinformation about Web 2.0 technologies in schools.

Mr. Sonty is frequently mentioned in the various educational technology publications, and often earns accolades from organizations in the field, and presents at national conferences. Here is just one small citation:

Vijay Sonty, this year’s Withrow Award for Educators winner serves as Chief Information Officer for Broward County Public Schools in Florida, and as such, is the instructional technology visionary for the sixth largest school district in the country. Mr. Sonty works closely with senior management, educators, and technical staff to establish and implement the district’s technology plan while administering a department budget of $102 million. He is the first urban CTO to win this highest CoSN honor for an individual technology leader.

Mr. Sonty’s leadership is at the forefront of the explosive growth and accessability of online instruction, virtual schools, and distance learning opportunities. Leading the District’s Refresh Program, he placed videoconferencing equipment in over 300 locations and aligned the distance-learning program with district-wide goals. Mr. Sonty also oversees Broward Education Communications Network (BECON) programs, which enhance elementary, middle, and high school curricula through daily programs as well as special videoconferencing events.

http://www.cosn.org/about/press/030806.cfm

Frankly, since Mr. Sonty is on the IBM Customer Advisory Panel, this makes me wonder if IBM has a “extra special” education target market set of “secure and safe” tools that districts can buy on the drawing board. This would feed right into the fear of connectivity that permeates most school districts these days.

Am I too cyncial? My wife thinks so, but Mr. Sonty has been advocate for IBM’s proprietary solutions:

Press Release Testimonials for IBM’s Closed Collaborative Tools

IBM® On Demand Workplace for Education suite. Project Knexus aims to transform education in Broward County by providing integrated, role-based access to district information, educational resources, applications and collaborative tools for all stakeholders.

When complete, Project Knexus is planned to provide all classes of users with integrated workspaces that contain role-specific applications, tools and services… Available services including document and content management, Web content publishing, search capabilities, e-mail and fax functionality and a rich array of other tools will help enable collaboration, partnering and learning over the Web.

“In the educational environment, you have many types of collaborations, such as parent/teacher, student/teacher and school administration/community interactions,” Sonty says. “IBM On Demand Workplace for Education will provide tools like presence awareness and instant messaging, Web conferencing, e-learning for students and workspaces for team projects, as well as two-way interactions using IP components of the IT infrastructure. This is exciting because we are intensifying the focus around each student, which should boost student achievement.”

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/success/cssdb.nsf/CS/HCTD-6LDU3A?OpenDocument&Site=default

Webcasts Promoting IBM Products
http://www-142.ibm.com/software/workplace/products/product5.nsf/wdocs/workplaceforsapwebcast

Many “CIOs”, or Tech Directors in school districts really do not have a grasp on the implications of CIPA, COPA and eRate, and spread a panic about any student or teacher connection to the outside world. They control the opinions of the school district administrators they advise, and become the choke point for all decision making regarding technology use. Educational technology staff are probably the greatest single enemy of Web 2.0 connectivity and collaborative tools in schools.

For instance, when Stephen Downes did a workshop at the 2006 ASTE conference, there were tech directors for large school districts who were just adamant that Web 2.0 tools of all kinds were verbotten. Well respected people in our state…opinion leaders…were arguing that “it’s shame”, but there is no way that their district could allow Web 2.0 tools, or they would violate federal laws and endanger funding.

Not so! Schools receiving eRate funds have the obligation to protect students, but their “proof” is a technology plan that shows that they are taking appropriate steps to protect students. State departments of education approve their plans as being compliant or not for funding purposes.

Let me be clear: Despite what you may have heard, nothing in CIPA or eRate funding regulations bans the use of wiki, chat, IM, blog, or social networking sites such as MySpace, Beebo, and so on. If these technologies are blocked in your school, it is your district’s policy that prohibits their use.

Vendors of firewall and filtering and security products use industry “publications” to reprint their press releases that fuel these same misperceptions. Why? Because fear equals market share. It is brilliant use of disinformation, and I see this happening now with collaborative technologies. These tools freely available right now to any school district that wants them.

A scared tech director is easy prey for sales calls, folks. Want to guess where most tech directors get their information about CIPA, COPA and eRate? Yep, you’ve got it. District level technology leaders get their info mostly from conferences, and vendor press releases disguised as articles. And, these same school district tech directors either make the decisions about purchases, and policies for student or teacher use, or they advise those at the top that do.

That vicious cycle, my virtual friends, is the real reason you don’t see Web 2.0 technologies more widely used in schools.

When Vijay Sonty says that Web 2.o tools are not ready for schools, he means in comparison to IBM’s newly released (6/19/2007) Quickr Team Collaboration Suite:

IBM Lauches Quickr Team Collaboration Suite – IBM Press Release

Suggested retail price for Lotus Quickr is USD $70 per user. The IBM Lotus CEO (Complete Enterprise Option) Community Collaboration bundle that includes Lotus Quickr, Lotus Connections, and Lotus Sametime is available at a suggested retail price of USD $195 per user.

I won’t go down the feature list point-by-point, but there is nothing in this proprietary suite of applications that is not more or less available for free using the Open Source tools they imitate…including Microsoft Word document integration with wiki. Our school district has all of these abilities well in place using MediaWiki and its ous extensions, as well as other Open Source solutions like Elgg and Moodle. Is it as slick and polished? Maybe not, as it is user built and maintained, and there are no professional coders in our ranks.

So what is the cost difference? Well, Open Source tools are free like a puppy. Our only real expense is the server space we have, and the teacher and administrator user energy that has gone into creating templates and so on. For a district our size, to use IBM’s Community Collaboration Bundle costs would be roughly:

1700 Student User Licenses: $195 X 1700 = $331,500
300 Staff Member User Licenses: $195 X 300 = $58,500
250 Parent User Licenses $195 X $48,750

Total First Year Implementation: $438,750 + training costs
Note: I believe that this is annual license fee, not a purchase of the software. Ouch!

Both IBM and Microsoft have been wrestling with how to brand and make proprietary  “open” collaborative tools. These are in direct competition with Open Source solutions, and will be competing for school district, and higher education dollars…as well as for organizational and corporate budgets.

Before you get too upset with my apparent cynicism, today’s article fails to mention Mr Sontay is the outgoing CIO for Broward County Schools. I would imagine that his proverbial “shelf life” was about to expire.

From a South Florida Sun-Sentinel news article from four days ago (June 21, 2007):

Technology official for Broward schools accepted trips paid by vendors

Broward schools’ outgoing technology director, who headed the district’s multimillion-dollar push for state-of-the-art systems, accepted free trips including visits to California and Connecticut from companies that do business with the school system, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has found.

School district leaders say Vijay Sonty’s travels point to flaws in the district’s policy on accepting gifts from lobbyists and vendors.

Sonty does not dispute accepting the trips but said he was only trying to promote the school district to the technology industry. He said his bosses approved the travel, and never told him that state and school district policies warn against accepting such gifts.

“How do you become the best in class if no one knows about you?” said Sonty, who was hired for his $163,000-a-year job in June 2004….

Ethics specialists say vague gift policies send the wrong message.

Three months after arriving in Broward, Sonty began traveling, taking more than 20 trips in the first two years, according to his calendar. While about 10 trips were paid by the school district, Sonty crisscrossed the country at least 10 times on a private company’s dime, according to records and Sonty.

The complete value of the trips could not be determined because Sonty did not file records disclosing them. School district records and e-mails, however, give a glimpse of some of the expenses…

Sonty said his mission on all of the trips was to exchange knowledge of a rapidly changing industry with his colleagues — and put Broward on the technological map.

Mr. Sonty is quite confident in his role in educational technology. You’ve gotta love this quote:

“I’m one of the top 100 [chief information officers] in the world,” he said. “I’ve filled large conference rooms with thousands of people. My credentials are endless. It comes across as bragging but I bring a lot to the table.”

“I put Broward as the global leader.”

It appears that Vijay is a leader in the number of companies for whom he has done testimonials, if nothing else. Many of these same companies are on the list of trip providers that the Sun-Sentinel cites.

Please understand that I am not accusing him of impropriety, but the very way our school leaders get their information about technology issues, and the manner in which vendors get exposure for their products is just a little too cozy. The system is certainly more to blame here than the individual. I have no doubt that Mr. Sonty saw nothing wrong with accepting the trips, and I am sure the Broward Schools investigation will find that he accepted no direct bribes or anything of the sort.

So how does the current vendor – media – district relationship work? Here is one quick example:

Microsoft issues a press release touting their Project Management Office (PMO), and quotes Broward’s Sonty extensively. This inspires the following Microsoft-centric “news” article in eSchool News about the same product line. Educational technology leaders around the country read the article, and see that Sonty is an advocate, and that he is running a $100 million department.

Orginal Microsoft Press Release http://download.microsoft.com/documents/customerevidence/26213_BrowardCountySchoolDistrict.doc

Blueprint for Success – eSchool News Article
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6596

Highly visible tech directors and other districts administrators are constantly pimping for vendors. Computerworld, in fact, did name Vijay one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders, and it is easy to see why he is a vendor favorite!

Here are some other press releases that Mr. Sonty has lent support for:

Cicso – Mentioned in the Sun-Sentinel article as paying for travel http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/ps5664/ps5669/products_case_study0900aecd80490f8d.shtml

Cisco Telepresence Article – eSchool News
http://deedsdoings2006.blogspot.com/2006/10/telepresenceakavideo-conferencing.html

LANDesk Press Release
http://www.lexdon.com/article/Broward_County_Public_Schools_Selects/3427.html

LANDesk eSchool News Article – “Refresh Project” in Broward
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5867&page=1

Apple 1-to-1 Initiative Press Release – Mentioned in Sun-Sentinel article as funding trips for Sonty
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=502&version=264&pageID=963

United Streaming – Disovery Learning’s streaming video product line
http://www.discoveryeducatornetwork.com/resources/pdf/0905/Digital_Learning_Power.pdf

Most of these are squeezed into an October, 2006 document produced by the eSchool folks, and distributed to educational leaders throughout the country. This glossy publication is called the Ed Tech Vanguard Report – Stories from America’s Greatest School Districts, and it quotes Broward’s Vijay Sonty no less than 42 times about what products he is using.

 

I have noticed that eSchool News has not printed anything about Vijay Sonty’s troubles in Broward County. It will be interesting to see if they do since they have featured him so visibly in their articles.

So, although there is no valid reason to ban Web 2.0 tools from schools, the vendors continue to promote these ideas through careful campaigns of disinformation that influence decision makers in school districts.

However, the recent Senate bill (S.49) introduced by Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, would actually block the use of any social networking tools in schools. That is a topic for a different day, but certainly worth a mention here:

Senate Bill 49 – Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (also known as “DOPA Junior”) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-49

S.49 – Text of Bill
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s49is.txt.pdf

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 7:33 am and is filed under Collaborative Tools, Outrageous But True, Web 2.0 Challenges. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.