The Education Business Blog

PCI Education got a new President & CEO last week. This is a big change across many aspects of my life but I believe it is the right move for the company and for me.

The official announcement is here.

About PCI Education

PCI is focused on the Special Education and Struggling Learner markets in the US and Canada and is known as the one-stop-shop for SPED solutions. The company has a huge catalog presence in schools and is rapidly growing new channels on-line and in the field. The main office is in San Antonio (Google has the address a couple of blocks off the actual location).

Why I'm Making This Change

I've always done my best work in large long-term change initiatives (Apple, Chancery, Pearson, and Harcourt). When PCI approached me about this opportunity I was working with them as a consultant and I wasn't looking for a new gig. The more I learned about the company and what they needed I realized that PCI is extremely well positioned for growth and that my skills are good fit with what the company needs.

PCI is wrestling with the same structural dislocations affecting every education publisher.

• A move to district decision-making resulting from NCLB which is changing distribution and selling models
• A concomitant move to more comprehensive solutions which is changing product development priorities
• Customer demand for blended technology and print solutions which is creating demand for new blends of expertise in editorial
• A society wide move to on-line purchasing which is affecting how we market and expectations for rapid response

PCI's new comprehensive reading program is building up a head of steam and goes a long way to addressing the first two issues. Much of the consulting work I've done recently has focused on the tech/print blend and PCI's initiatives in this area promise to break new ground. The company also has a well-designed web platform as customers transition from catalogs to on-line purchasing. Regular readers know that this is a subject near and dear to me.

But on top of this we have the economic meltdown. The stimulus which just passed last week has over $12 billion targeted at Special Education and another $13 billion for Title 1. As noted elsewhere on this blog most of this money will go to keeping teachers employed, but it also promises to keep the flow of materials for struggling learners.

Companies that provide products with a one-time purchase that target core subject areas and can be purchased with Title 1 or IDEA funds should do very well indeed.

PCI, because of the students it serves, will get some lift in a tough time.

What Happens To This Blog?

The short answer is nothing right away. I'll continue to post on issues that matter to the education publishing industry. You will probably see more guest bloggers - but I happen to think that is a healthy evolution. Some of the top posts from the past year were by people like Randy Wilhelm and Doug Stein.

Will I be more circumspect in some of my utterances? I hope not. Blogging is an intensely personal medium when it works and I'll continue to state my mind. I will try be clear when I'm speaking for myself and when I'm opining on issues that affect PCI so you can make your own judgments about bias. If you have any question about this don't hesitate to drop a comment in.

What Happens To My Consulting Practice?

Naturally I can't keep consulting if I'm in a full-time role. I've already transitioned most of my clients. I will continue to keep a hand in a couple of coaching projects that I can fit in around my schedule. If you are looking for consultants in the areas I've been serving please contact me and I'll pass along the names of people I respect and trust who do similar kinds of work.

Am I Moving?

Kind of. With two sons in High School we really don't want to move our family. The good news is that San Antonio is only and hour and half from Austin. I'll be getting an apartment in San Antonio and will be spending several nights a week down there. But I can always pop home for a school event or just to plant a big one on Leslie. It isn't like living in Austin and working in Chicago.

New Contact Info

I'm changing both my work email and my personal email. My old emails will continue to work and I'll always get the info@ notes from the blog so there shouldn't be any disruption. I'll be sending the new info out in the next day or so and will be posting it to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Plaxo.

The company mailing address is:

PCI Education
4560 Lockhill Selma, Ste 100
San Antonio TX 78249

Web: www.pcieducation.com

Phone: 210-377-1999
Toll Free: 800-594-4263

Closing Thoughts

I'm looking forward to working with a new team and to exploring a new city. I've always enjoyed San Antonio during conventions and it has been a favorite family outing since we moved to Austin. I'm particularly pleased to be working with a company that serves students with the greatest need.

EdNet turned 20 this year. EdNet 2008 is happening right now in Boston. A huge congratulations goes out to the whole EdNet team for forging one of the required stops for the Educati. Nelson Heller, Vicki Bigham, Anne Wujcik and the rest of the team continue to put on an outstanding event year after year.

I've been attending since the early 90's and it is wonderful to see so many familiar faces and so many new ones every year. It is always a delicious tension to juggle attending sessions and spending time out in the hallway conducting business. More often than not business wins - but either way you come out ahead. You can learn valuable insights in the sessions or you can make valuable connections in the schmoozefest out by the coffee.

Ever since 9/11 EdNet has also been a somber reminder for me of the events that day. We were all in a general session when it happened and we retired en masse to the bar (not open) to watch in horror and sympathy as the grisly events unfolded. We could see the smoke at the Pentagon from our rooms in the hotel. I remember walking in the park a couple of days later and the unsettling silence because there were no planes weaving down the Potomac to National. Every 15 minutes a lone F18 would circle overhead.

No one could leave Washington and no one really wanted to conduct business. Strong bonds of friendship were forged in those days of waiting and grieving. The people who were there that week have a special place in my heart.

I'm hoping I attend in 20 years. I'm optimistic for the future - precisely because I've seen the impact that people like Nelson, Vicki, and Anne can have. Thanks.

Information is expanding exponentially. Applying database concepts to your information diet can mean the difference between overload and sanity, chaos and productivity. Database fluency is mandatory in a digital world. Students and teachers should be practicing and refining this skill so that today's learners can make the most of the sea of data they swim in.

Almost anything you encounter in digital format can be managed using database techniques. At their root Facebook (relationships), iTunes (music, movies, tv, books, etc.), del.icio.us (bookmarks), flickr (photos), Moodle (lesson plans, learning management), and We Are Teachers (referrals) share a common database DNA. Even blogs through their categories and tag clouds are databases.

Email is an example. Treat the sender's address as a data point. Then set up rules (database queries) to have all your boss's emails sent to a high priority folder and Aunt Mabel's political ravings sent straight to the trash. This approach allows you to target the urgent items amidst a sea of dross.

The Education Need

Educators and educational publishers have a vital role to play in our move to a database driven world. Why?

• Students need to develop database fluency if they are going to get the most out of their digital lives. Learning Management Systems (LMS), social networks, and on-line research are all core tools for 21st Century education. Database fluency should become part of the curriculum along with textual, numerical, and visual fluencies.
• Teachers need access to networks of peers, experts, and content to be able to deliver on the promise of individualized instruction.
• Administrators and Policy Makers need to measure results across groups and efficiently allocate resources.

Every one of these needs is best met by a database and fluent users.

The Goal

The end result should be personal growth, valued relationships, and effective organizations. But in the first flush of widespread adoption we are losing sight of this. Consider the statement "I "friended" 1,000 people on Facebook therefor I have 1,000 friends." Wrong. Many people are confusing the database with their relationships.

A teacher could take the Facebook example above and build an interesting set of discussions around the meaning of friendship, how to find a small network of people who are interested in the same things you are, what you can do to contribute, and how to manage the relationships that emerge. It isn't creating huge numbers of meaningless connections that matters - it is finding the needles in the haystack of humanity that you want to build bonds of friendship with.

Database Fluency

What is database fluency - what are the core skills proficient users need to master?

• Ubiquity - See every digital file you touch as a potential data point. Emails, MP3 files, Word documents, student records, and your photos are all potential data points.
• Searching - Understanding how to craft logical questions that return useful information takes ongoing practice ("and", "or", "greater than", "before", etc.). Learning to to harness the advanced search features almost all applications have is another part of this skill.
• Homing - The ability to find what is meaningful and valuable in large data sets by asking the right questions at the right time. Is this a reliable source? How recent is the data? Does this address the question I set out to answer? Is it usable or a tangled mess? How does it compare with other results?
• Tagging - Users tag data elements to personalize them. This can be through formal taxonomies provided by the database author ("Male, Female") or informal folksonomies created on the fly by users (flickr tag clouds). Since tagging is so open-ended having some basic rules in place can help insure you are able to use the tag cloud later to search the data.
• Cleaning - Any collection of data gets messy after a while - knowing how to clean your data just like you clean your room is an essential part of working with large data sets. Without maintenance your searching and tagging get bogged down.
• Reporting - Creating clear usable reports that make the point you are after is an important part of turning data into information and eventually into wisdom. When is a table better than a bar chart? Should I focus on 5 or 500 names?

None of this involves database programming. That is a skill more akin to auto mechanics - I don't need to know how to tune my engine to drive a car. I also don't need to know SQL to use a social networking site. However, for driving and networking I do need to know the rules of the road and how navigate where I want to go.

How these elements appear in different applications varies widely - understanding the underlying dynamics helps harness their power across many environments.

RSS readers click through to see the full article - 3 detailed examples that bring these concepts to life and some suggestions on where to start.

Continue reading "Database Fluency - Core Skill for the 21st Century" »

Here is some food for thought from Seth Godin on how social networking can help us organize. His main point - the side in an argument that is better organized usually wins. Whether your issue is education reform, textbook and software adoption, privatization, highly qualified teachers, NCLB, or any of the other issues of the day there is a worthy nugget of wisdom in his thinking.

What Happens When We Organize?

As Seth points out these tools upset the power dynamic and if harnessed can lead to positive change.

On caveat - once you engage be prepared to go on forever. These issues are never permanently resolved - and that is probably as it should be. In an arena as complicated and nuanced as learning no one has a monopoly on the truth.

Another caveat - organization is just a tool for change, not necessarily a tool for doing good. Witness email - the spammers are better organized than the rest of us and they are killing it. So - be the change you want to see and find others who want the same things you do.

Here are a couple of places to start:

Classroom 2.0 - For all of us
EduCon - For educators
We Are Teachers - For teachers
AEP and SIIA Education Division - For publishers

Come on - join the conversation!

This meme has been running around the blogosphere. In the spirit of "getting to know your blogger better" here is my version of this fun little collection of random facts.

Four jobs I have had in my life (not including your current job):

Street Musican (Seville, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Montreal, well you get the idea)
Planning Synthesist (so much more interesting than analyst)
Pot Boy (no not THAT - I washed pots when the Chef was done with them)
Credit Manager

Four Movies I have watched over and over:

Dr. Strangelove
Lord of the Rings (counts as one really looooong one)
Bladerunner
And Now for Something Completely Different (Monty Python)

Four places I have lived:

Concord MA
Fujinomiya Japan
Albuquerque NM
Bellingham WA
(and 14 other places)

Four Shows I love to watch:

Mythbusters
The Daily Show
Friday Night Lights
Get Smart

Four Places I have been on vacation:

Grindlewald Switzerland
Maui
Whistler BC
Isle Au Haut ME

Four of my favorite foods:

Artichokes
Halibut
Pickles
Sourdough (anything)

Four favorite drinks:

Cafe Americano
Lemon Sparkling Water
Diet Coke (caffiene free)
Guava Juice

Four places I would rather be right now:

Taos
Mt. Baker
San Francisco
New Zealand (ok - I've neven been there but I really want to go)

Four things I know but will never blog about:

Tuning a banjo
Hidden ski trails (that's kind of the point)
Philadelphia
Making Beer

Four Bloggers I Tag:

Richard Carey
John Rice
Chris Keene
Annie Teich

Your turn guys...

This is the new home on the inter-tubes of Headway Strategies. This site has been running in beta mode for about a month and the final switch is taking place today.

We hope you enjoy the new format and welcome any feedback to help us tweak and improve the experience.

Thanks to the entire team at Justia for making this happen.

Lee