Have you ever thought about your karma with respect to technology? The CK part of SNiCK stands for Computing Karma. Just what was I thinking?! If you think about all of the computer/tech using people that you know (and there should be a lot of them), you can probably pick out a few who fall into 2 special categories: those who can break/freeze/crash a computer just by looking at it sideways, and those who seemingly can fix a problem just by their mere presence in the room. You know this second kind of person - they are the one that you call or go to when you have that problem that just will not go away, and the problems disappears as soon as you show it to them (often without even touching the machine ;-). You might also know of someone who always has a problem with their machine, no matter the time or place (and for a special few, the problems are not only confined to computers but spread to the tv, mobile phone and the gps in the car - anything that has lights and goes "bing"). A select few of these people seem to have a powerful "field of disruption" around them which can mess with various technologies from a distance. Do you know who I'm talking about?
To me, these two small groups of people represent the far ends of the Computing Karma spectrum. Most people fall somewhere in between, but most people know someone who falls into one of these groups. These two groups often have some almost magical qualities about them. I think the word karma aptly describes the magical/mystical aura that surrounds these people. As a tech coach, some people place me firmly on the "fixing/healing" end of the spectrum. I have often encountered situations where the tech problem at hand gets solved or fixed or just plain disappears, just by walking into a room. I quite like the challenge of these kind of problems, as trying to debug what is actually going on without any evidence makes it fun, but that's just the programmer geek part of me speaking.
Furthermore, as a tech coach, I often encounter faculty members who fall closer to the other end of the spectrum, in the break/freeze/crash technology group. Yes, they really do exist, sometimes in large numbers within schools. Working with these staff members is also challenging and fun, as the problems that they bring to me are always unique and complex. Contrary to popular belief, I do not resent working with these kind of people - I embrace it. As the person in charge of our 1:1 laptop program, learning systems and faculty tech PD, the people who have a knack for breaking things often inadvertently find major issues with systems or hardware that were previously undiscovered, or they magically get to the root of an underlying systems problem without even knowing it. In the programming world, they try to make systems and computer programs "bullet-proof" and hire people to test and break software before releasing it. So I have a built in testing group like this, who have an inherent knack for breaking things, to rely on to find the bugs and problems with any new system that we rollout.
Can you change your computing karma? Is it set for life? Personally, I think you can, or else your karma changes from device to device as you try new technologies. I have worked with who could never understand one device (say a particular brand or type of mobile phone), but once they found one that clicks with them, it transformed how they used and interacted with the device. So maybe their Computing Karma changed with the device. Maybe the device has its own Computing Karma and it all depends on how well the two intersect/collide/enmesh with one another like the polarities of two magnets placed alongside each other - attraction vs repulsion.
So what does this have to do with tech coaching? The faculty that I work with all have varying levels of attraction and repulsion with the technology tools and systems that are in their classroom, in their hands, and used within the school. When I am working with a faculty member, whether it is in some kind of prescribed tech training or in a more collaborative coaching role, getting a read on the staff member's comfort levels and affinity with the tech tool is an important clue in how to approach the training session, at what level to offers the training, and what the end goal of the session should be. Getting a quick measure of someone's current Computing Karma with respect to the tech tool or system on hand, can make a real difference in the success of a training session. Sometimes, it's more about finding the right tool for the job which matches the person, then it is about fitting the person to the tool.
Where do you think your Computing Karma falls on the spectrum? What tech tools/systems do you have an affinity for?
 |
| Is your Computing Karma more Yin or Yang? On/Off? 0/1? |
Furthermore, as a tech coach, I often encounter faculty members who fall closer to the other end of the spectrum, in the break/freeze/crash technology group. Yes, they really do exist, sometimes in large numbers within schools. Working with these staff members is also challenging and fun, as the problems that they bring to me are always unique and complex. Contrary to popular belief, I do not resent working with these kind of people - I embrace it. As the person in charge of our 1:1 laptop program, learning systems and faculty tech PD, the people who have a knack for breaking things often inadvertently find major issues with systems or hardware that were previously undiscovered, or they magically get to the root of an underlying systems problem without even knowing it. In the programming world, they try to make systems and computer programs "bullet-proof" and hire people to test and break software before releasing it. So I have a built in testing group like this, who have an inherent knack for breaking things, to rely on to find the bugs and problems with any new system that we rollout.
Can you change your computing karma? Is it set for life? Personally, I think you can, or else your karma changes from device to device as you try new technologies. I have worked with who could never understand one device (say a particular brand or type of mobile phone), but once they found one that clicks with them, it transformed how they used and interacted with the device. So maybe their Computing Karma changed with the device. Maybe the device has its own Computing Karma and it all depends on how well the two intersect/collide/enmesh with one another like the polarities of two magnets placed alongside each other - attraction vs repulsion.
So what does this have to do with tech coaching? The faculty that I work with all have varying levels of attraction and repulsion with the technology tools and systems that are in their classroom, in their hands, and used within the school. When I am working with a faculty member, whether it is in some kind of prescribed tech training or in a more collaborative coaching role, getting a read on the staff member's comfort levels and affinity with the tech tool is an important clue in how to approach the training session, at what level to offers the training, and what the end goal of the session should be. Getting a quick measure of someone's current Computing Karma with respect to the tech tool or system on hand, can make a real difference in the success of a training session. Sometimes, it's more about finding the right tool for the job which matches the person, then it is about fitting the person to the tool.
Where do you think your Computing Karma falls on the spectrum? What tech tools/systems do you have an affinity for?
No comments:
Post a Comment