RodeWorks

If email doesn’t work as a tool, why not, and what are we to do about it. Some good thoughts on the subject are available here:

Mathemagenic: learning and KM insights - Thursday, June 23, 2005

Particularly insightful is the idea that email training stops at the functional level — click this button to retrieve your email. There is little discussion of what email should be used for and how it should be used most effectively. It seems to me that this is a common fault of most people’s technology learning. Another issue is the old "if you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail" issue. Staff/students/faculty learn how to use one tool, like email, and then try to make it work for everything. Its funny how often I’ll respond to someone’s email, and then get an immediate answer back. At that point I normally pick up the phone and call them to finish discussion on the issue at hand, finding the telephone is much more efficient for synchronous information exchange (otherwise known as conversation). But I can’t think of anytime when my fellow correspondent has made the call first. I think one problem is that most people see email as just a faster alternative to "snail mail." And its really much more than that.

I’ve discussed the concept of IT fluency before (http://rodeworks.com/archives/30). Digital tools offer exciting new ways to communicate, teach, and interact, but we need to start moving beyond the simple functional issues to help our communities use these tools in appropriate and effective ways.