Tech and Learning is offering a multi-part series on web tools (100 tools to enhance collaboration). The first installment is now available. If one wanted to get into the mindset of exploring and explaining new tools, this could be a never-ending commitment. I have mixed feelings about this abundance. On one hand I think innovation is great and the competition it creates for attention drives advances. On the other hand, I think tech-committed educators can easily waste too much time looking for the next new thing. One of my recent “themes” has been efficiency and I think we lose instructional efficiency when we and our students are constantly learning about new tools rather than using new tools to learn (note the clever turn of a phrase). We need more ideas and examples more than we need more tools. How about 100 new ideas for the use of a blog, wiki, or whatever in the classroom. A much tougher challenge, but a much more useful endeavor.
I draw a personal parallel between this situation and one I find myself facing as an administrator. Research productivity is expected of the faculty I work with, but there are different kinds of research. Survey studies and laboratory studies are easier than intervention studies to implement and possibly easier to publish. This becomes an issue when considering recognition and merit advances. The advancement of science aside, benefit to the public occurs when knowledge can be put into practice. I have a personal bias toward application and always feel like recommending to some that they have gathered enough descriptive data or conducted enough laboratory research and it might now be time to see if their findings might improve something for someone.
In both cases, it is easy to get caught up in part of the process and not take responsibility for seeing the process through to some attempt at a productive conclusion. At least, we ought to consider what has been accomplished by our endeavors.