The TWAIN blog

I find this concept to be very interesting, especially for our current students and the realm of future job presence. In the edu-bloggersphere, there is talk of Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind and his discussion of jobs non-existent now being ready for the next generation.

I guess since my background has been working with students in design programs and working with web and server design, I see how this idea of Conjunctured or Co-working is so beneficial to the design community. Many of these designers work from home or the local coffee shop without getting the interaction of others in an office. And they genuinely miss that interaction. They can do the watercooler discussions online but they can’t participate in instant feedback communication or sharing of ideas that an office brings.

Co-Working and Jelly in Austin are what I believe we as educators should be looking into for how future jobs can be developed. The concept is explained better in the video and I have posted about it before (I may have deleted it). But the concept is to gather a group of independent workers in an office space where they can still work on their independent projects; but they can co-work on each other’s ideas. Sharing. Networking. Collaboration. Creation.

But without a boss. Without the pressure of administrators. Without the hierarchy.

Equality.

Click here to view Co-Working Video from Austin American Statesman reporter Omar Gallaga

After attending that awesome conference called NECC and now going through not only all my handwritten notes but the blogs, wikis, and web sites all together; I am ready to build a new home for all my stuff.

Being a web designer and web master is really handy. I know the code. I know how to manipulate images, codes, and CSS. But its also a hindrance. I don’t know if I should go with a pay site, build my own server (no experience there but I think I can learn it), or use a variation of a wiki. I have so many social network locations and sites that I just want to merge them all into one.

Plus, I want to document my new job and the struggle with moving a district toward technology integration piece by piece. I want to share with the Web 2.0 community of tech leaders and visionaries how what they are discussing in various conversation and web spaces is really impacting a community I work with. We are starting from the ground floor and what an opportunity to record the ins and outs of putting these things into place!!

Any suggestions? I am looking into wikis, editme (David Jakes uses it), paying a service to host, etc.

I just checked my blog and noticed that I never posted my job change information.

As of July 1, I will be the new Chief Technology Officer for the Kerrville ISD. I am currently in the process of packing my home up for a move to my new place. I have posted pics on my Flickr stream that should be showing up soon on this site.

I am really excited about the new job and role I will be taking on in Kerrville. I have always been routed to one campus in my previous roles. This new job is district-wide and I plan to be mobile for the most part of my job. “Have laptop, will travel!” I told my administrative team that I would prefer to be housed at the campuses rather than at the administration building.

This is also a new position for the district. They have had a tremendous technology support team for years! I met them and I agree. But in the past year, the technology planning committee challenged the administration to find a person to come in and help them learn to use the technology in the classroom. The teachers requested that this job be created so that they could take the learning to the level of application in their classes.

I am going in just the way I like it: without a plan and without a pre-conceived notion of what should be done. I want the teachers there to help me devise the best method for helping them learn and apply technology tools. How can we all learn together? We are all in this Web 2.0 world together and the tools will always be changing. I will be learning along with them and sharing as we work together.

I am really excited about the possibilities and for living in Kerrville. Its a population of about 20,000 which is different than all the other places I have lived. I think this difference is going to be the best thing for me!