There have been a great many comments and posts recently on both the successes and shortcomings of the BAMMY AWARDS. I was recognized at the ceremony as a Co-Founder of #Edchat and an innovator in education. There were some blatantly obvious mistakes made at that ceremony, but it should also be recognized that the entire event was set up to recognize and celebrate educators. I do not want to enter the fray on this, but I do need to take issue with one criticism that I have seen in a few posts that I think is off the mark.
If there is one subject I have consistently written about for years, it is the idea of what a modern connected educator is. If there is one thing we should strive for as connected educators, it is collaboration. It shares, questions, refines and improves ideas. Collectively, we are smarter than we are individually. Collaboration makes education more transparent. It enables educators to examine, and explore what is relevant in their profession. It highlights the best and exposes the worst in education. Connected educators are educators who engage in this collaboration with the tools of technology to efficiently maximize their collaboration in ways that were never before possible.
The Bammy Awards were set up to recognize and celebrate that very aspect of education, the successful collaboration of educators. Why then are educators criticizing the Bammys for recognizing connected educators?
Some blog posts were critical that this was a popularity contest with the most popular connected educators. If an educator is a successful collaborator in social media, he, or she will attract a following. That following however is based on the ideas that the educator shares, and not on who likes them personally. There are many educators who have social media accounts, but that does not make them connected educators. I have a list of over 200 superintendents on Twitter. Most have barely tweeted 100 times, and I suspect they were more for PR than for collaboration. They have followings as well, but that is not necessarily based on their collaboration and most are not substantial.
Many of the connected educators at the BAMMY AWARDS, which was probably less than 50 or 60, are educators who do more than just tweet for collaboration. Most of them Blog, some of them have written books, many have done webinars, speak at conferences, and conduct sessions at Edcamps. All of these actions are forms of collaboration, and the result will be a following of educators, who recognize and appreciate the value of each of the contributions of each of these individuals. These connected educators are going beyond what we have now come to expect from educators, doing exactly what we need them to do to improve our profession through collaboration. Why would anyone then question or criticize them for being too popular. Why would anyone want to discount the validation of these educators? The number of followers is the very measure that validates their efforts.
If we did not want educators to be recognized for their ideas and have people publicly stand behind them, we should not put any names on any work. If the rule is to be that we need to collaborate, but not be recognized for that collaboration, then we should all write and collaborate anonymously. No names on books, posts, speeches or any work that is public collaboration.
Connected educators cannot control their “popularity”. This following or “Popularity” is a consequence of how their ideas are vetted and approved by other educators and in so doing, their names are recognized. This to me is a good thing. I can name the best people who can model what it is to be a connected educator based not just as my opinion, but one born out by other educators as well. It makes no sense to me to say that we need to recognize collaboration in education and then condemn connected educators for being successful for doing it. It is a fact in collaboration in social media that one measure of successful collaboration will be the “popularity”, or following of the collaborator.
We are each entitled to our own opinions on how we measure and value things. I am becoming more and more aware however, that the forms of measurement that we use for things may need to be adjusted, or even scraped, as we change the way we do things. I would offer that advice to both the organizers of the BAMMY AWARDS as well as their critics.
At the same time, the criticism regarding a popularity contest is a valid one because those who are not among the constant collaboration and aren’t among the top/those recognized very often perceive the group that is recognized as a clique.
I’ve been blogging in one area or another for more than a decade and stopped trying for recognition years ago, mainly because I found that the great irony in blogging is that the posts you hope will get noticed rarely do and the posts that you barely put any effort into get more hits than anything else. But even though I consider myself “connected,” I remain on the fringe. Much of that is my own doing–I don’t always have the time to constantly engage people, especially when I have more immediate concerns like papers to grade and yearbook deadlines to make–but much of it comes from the fact that I still often feel like I’m not worthy enough to join in the conversation and I think that many feel the same way (and I’m pretty sure that was a run-on sentence).
I guarantee you that quite a number of people lurk because they’re intimidated by the small group of “elite” connected educators and just as many walk away from the average Twitter session feeling not inspired by defeated by how their personal situation contrasts with what they see online. I work in a poor rural district and make about 1/3 of the money that some of the Bammy award nominees do. My school’s technology situation is pretty terrible, I cannot afford to go to conferences, and I am about to take on another prep so that maybe we can reduce the 25+ class sizes and make things more manageable. I was getting so agitated during #edchat I have started to avoid Twitter at all on a Tuesday night. And who wins Bammys? Well …
And it’s not a knock against you, personally–in fact,seeing that you’re recognized for blogging, podcasting,etc. makes total sense (I remember taking a summer school class called “video volunteers” that you taught back in 1987 and when I saw how tech-forward you were I said, “Of course!”). But there are those who aren’t as humble, who name drop and brag at every opportunity possible. Yes, that’s unavoidable, but it, quite frankly, turns people off as well.
Any awards ceremony like this will bring with it criticism. I’m sure there will be at least 50 “Why I don’t care I’m not nominated for an edublog award” posts later in the year. At the same time, however, those complaints have merit because very often they highlight the disconnect that often exists among the connected.
Tom
I can’t believe you were in my video Volunteers class.You had to be in 5th grade. I did that for 2 summers and I loved doing it.
Knowing most of the connected educators at the Bammy Awards, I would say that most, not all, are not the people that you describe. Most will engage and support any educator seeking contact. What you say about Blogs is definitely true, but you can increase your visibility by using Twitter to drive traffic to your post. Your engagement of other Bloggers through commenting on their posts does it as well. Once insecurities are overcome, there are strategies that one can use to gain more visibility and collaborative engagement.By the way some connected educators are Bloviators, but they are a very small group. I would encourage you to be more confident in your engagement.
Hey Tom,
I have been watching this conversation from afar but want to jump in. First of all, this statement:
“Connected educators cannot control their “popularity”. This following or “Popularity” is a consequence of how their ideas are vetted and approved by other educators and in so doing, their names are recognized.”
I think that having great ideas and being a great educator can be two different things. Some of the smartest people in university were weak educators. They were not able to connect with their students in a meaningful way. Is it possible that you can be a brilliant person in your sharing of ideas online but be a weak teacher/leader? Absolutely.
With that being said, why were people nominated? What was the criteria? How did they determine who the best teacher or leader was? I know people that were nominated by others and never had a conversation with anyone regarding why they were nominated and what the process was.
Also, this statement:
“…but it should also be recognized that the entire event was set up to recognize and celebrate educators.”
Was it really? I know that was a part of it, but I think that we have to understand the huge marketing that comes out of an event like this. I look at your blog and see the “edublog award” badges. There is merit in bringing attention to blogs, but doesn’t edublogs or the Bam Radio Network get a lot of recognition from this type of event or ceremony? To act like it is not a MAJOR part of it would be naive. I am thinking that if this was REALLY about recognizing educators, why are the nominees paying out of their own pocket to show up? There is nothing wrong with marketing as a business needs to make money, but to say that this is what is ALL about, then why have the name attached?
I went last year and appreciate the work that many of my friends put into this event. The educators that I know that have been involved, both in coordinating and going have always had (from my interactions) what is best for kids in mind. I don’t even fault the Bam Radio Network for holding an event to promote their work, although I know that there were some major issues with the evening. I think that part of being connected is challenging ideas and things like this.
It is good that people are being critical thinkers and having challenging conversations since that is what we want our students to do. It is always nice to have our work recognized but I also believe that we often forget that awards often recognize one when many are involved. Our classrooms and their environment are not just because of one person, but the work of many. Our custodians, facilities, IT departments, secretaries, educational assistants, and many others are all part of what happens every day in a school but they are rarely recognized in this way at all. How do we change that?
I think the power of #edchat and other aspects of being “connected”is that it recognizes our profession as a whole and brings so many people together, as well as their ideas, to do what is best for kids. The power of connection is bringing people together as a whole, not focusing on a few. I think that is why so many people are frustrated with the process.
Just my two cents.
George
I am growing so tired of this subject. There are many exceptional educators. This was only one way to recognize exceptionalism. I recently sent a list of educators that I respect and admire as connected educators to Arne Duncan. It was my tweet, my list, my initiative, yet I received comments from people that the list was not good enough, or diverse enough, or qualified enough.Some felt I had no right to make any recommendations to the Secretary of Education. There is no list that everyone will approve 100%. I agree that education communities are made up of many people representing many positions other than educators, but this was a recognition of educators. BTW last year a Bammy was awarded to a head custodian.
I respect you as an outstanding educator, administrator, leader, and education thought leader. You appear on any list of top people that I recommend. You are popular for all of that, but no less deservant of recognition because you have a great following. I think other educators should be aware of what it is that you offer to other educators. That does not mean I am devaluing other people. If I could afford to do my own awards presentation for connected educators, I would, but based on my bank account, that ain’t gonna happen. The Bam Network stepped up an volunteered to to it. They published the criteria, nominations were made, and judges decided the results. If there is a problem with the process, people need to notify The Bam people.
The recognition of good people doing good things for kids and other educators through collaboration and good works is worth recognition. We need these models, you being one, to lead educators to improve themselves, as well as our profession. These award discussions often remind me of the classic teacher statement about gum in class. If you didn’t bring enough for the whole class, you can’t have it. Yes, many people are responsible for education and many do a good job. Some however, do exceptional jobs and recognition of that should not diminish the efforts of others, but rather inspire or at least model that which we would like to see in everyone.Just because we can’t give an award to everyone in education is not a reason not to recognize and validate the actions of the few who exceed the norm. This entire discussion is as old as awards themselves. We will continue to have lists and awards. We can only hope that the criteria is transparent and fitting.
Thanks for openly expressing your opinion my friend. It has made me reflect further on this. I suggest we renew the discussion next year in time to affect the Bammy nomination process.
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Tom, I think you make great points about the value of being a connected educator, but I find it very self-serving for the Bammy Awards to conflate connectedness with excellence. They’re related, but not the same thing.
I think George’s point about the difference between being great online and great in your actual job is right on, and the Bammy Awards failed to distinguish between them.
I think it would have been a lot more appropriate to have a specific award for connected educators – where connectedness is the criterion – and other awards that are based on in-school success. Especially if the Bammy Awards are going to be THE awards for education (they’ve already scooped up all the relevant endorsements), they need to be much clearer on their criteria for winning. And they need to tell better stories about the winners and how they’re emblematic of excellence in the profession.
Otherwise, the whole thing gets pointless after a while, because the same 10 people are going to win every award, if all the nominations filter by Twitter reputation.
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