Organic Changes

Several years ago I started a web site for an annual event with friends that happens just before Thanksgiving. Every year there were things that happened that people wanted to remember. We found ourselves wondering "did that happen last year at Chicago or the year before in San Francisco?".

So, each year I added a page or two to the website. The first year I went back and created one page for each year in the past and then each year when I go it is my job to document the event on our website.

It has occurred to me that no one really LOOKS at this website. It is sort of an archive. It is handy now and then, but something most of us totally forget about the day after the event. However, there are some things that we do every year that could benefit from a more interactive site, so last year I created a WIKI. Our wiki has the grocery list on it and a few other things that are really helpful to work on collaboratively. But still no one really looks at it. In fact... I doubt if people other than me remembered that it exists.

This year someone suggested that we just start a group in Facebook. It turns out that everyone in the group has a Facebook page and so it would be natural for them to go to Facebook to look things up and to communicate when they wanted to. At Facebook they don't have to remember some odd URL, or a login to a Wiki.

This is a good picture of ORGANIC growth of the use of technology. People do not use technology unless they feel the need and then they use it in a way that makes sense to them. Several years ago a website was the only way we could have an online presence. But now it seems odd to have ONLY one person able to edit and update the site. Now, how does that apply to a classroom teacher?