The TWAIN blog

Miguel dropped the glove and asked me to post my comments on what happened at Day 2 of TEC SIG. I honestly did not take many notes on the day because…well….I got caught up in making fun of the situation on Twitter. It happens.

So what happened? Well, that’s hard to figure out. I haven’t been into all the gab on the TEC-SIG listserv. I mainly check it when I get an interesting topic or I post a question about something I would like a response to.

I didn’t know there was this growing debate between TEA and the SIG. So from an outsider’s view like my own it looked like a fight was developing in that session on Friday.

I think I can see both sides of the arguments that took place. Sparing the nitty-gritty, here is what I think:

1) The reps from TEA tried to “school” us in proper netiquette by informing the group that information shared by them is copyrighted and that we should ask permission before posting it online or posting it on our own blog/podcasts.

2) They then told us that they were too busy, understaffed, and unprepared for dealing with the new technologies of Web 2.0. We even heard that often they send out information that is changed by the time it is sent out.

3) Audience members who do podcast and share these resources were seeking clarity on copyright when posting resources sent by TEA (which is a public entity).

My thoughts on this:

1) TEA should really take advantage of the people who are willing to post their information in easily explainable terms. I know that if I have a question on something, I ask TEC-SIG or I read the blogs of others. I rarely visit TEA’s site or ESC-service centers. I can’t find information as easily as on others sites.

2) People who do blog/podcast on their sites should (even as a courtesy) ask for permission to record word for word or to post the slides from a presentation. It is a professional courtesy that I think has fallen to the wayside. I agree that they are a public entity and we should get the information from them to post. But I also think it is a courtesy to inform them in advance that you wish to record them. I do the same for all guest speakers and meetings I wish to record.

TEA should provide a better communication system for distributing information along with some interactivity on their site. I agree. But as they say, they are understaffed as well. It sounds like they need help with this and my question is why can’t TCEA help them? Why can’t we as an association provide the tools to distribute information more than just conference advertising?

The one place I think we should look to for technology information in the state should be linked to TCEA somehow. We keep talking about providing a database of all of our district resources and vendors with small steps heading that way. What is our organization about besides a listserv and a conference each year?

Better yet, what are my dues for in this group? What am I paying for?