The Tools

I was working with a middle school resource room teacher trying to find meaningful ways to collect data about her students as well as engage them in remedial instruction. I began by asking her what she wanted to accomplish and what she saw in her mind as an end product. I always ask this question first, whether in designing a new student project or developing a fully integrated technological system, as in this case. The end result is typically the same and a couple of things inevitably happen.

1. There is a moment of staring off into the distance which gives the illusion of contemplative thought
2. Tears begin to well up in their eyes and the sense of bewilderment seizes control of their features.
3. There is the ever so subtle cod like movement of their jaw as they try to deal with the fear of their idea being 'out there' on the 'web'.
4. And finally the answer of "I want it to work and be easy to use. Oh....and I want it to look cool!"

This series of reactions happens so quickly that the untrained eye can barely register them. In that moment my heart went out to this teacher. She was overwhelmed, confused, and frustrated... Worse there was no need to be.

We are often mesmerized by the 'magic' that technology seems to create. We are spellbound like the inhabitants of mythical Oz. We believe those that are adept and skilled in its use have a clue that we missed out on. How many times have we heard or used the phrase ' I'm not technological' or ' if I go near a computer I'll break it' ? Here' the big secret... there is no 'wizard', folks. Barring heinous use of the hardware or a magic wand it is nigh impossible to 'break' technology. You may lose files or end up somewhere you didn't intend, but break it? Not likely.

This brings me to the idea of 'tools'. Often I am asked to give a list of some useful tools for emerging technologist. Here's what I give them:
1) A healthy sense of adventure
2) Enough curiosity to choke a cat
3) an unapologetic boldness and reckless abandon
4) Some amount of patience and time
5) The ability to problem solve
6) a clear idea of what you want to accomplish
7) the number of a 'Computer Geek' friend ( just in case, it couldn't hurt!)

That's it. That's the only list of tools I can provide you with. That's what our students use and ultimately they are the experts. That's Guerilla Philosophy, pure, simple, and unrefined. It's simple because things that work often are.

I can hear you now. "What about cool websites? What about neat tricks? What about the one, universal thing that I can't live without? I'm calling shenanigans, Dean!" The truth is... I don't have it or haven't found it yet, but I haven't given up looking. Why don't you get 'Guerilla' and help me? It's a big Internet out there just begging for us to help define it and guide others.