Encouraging early and late majority teachers

In the 1940s, Everett Rogers published a book titled “Diffusion of Innovations” about the adoption of new technologies in agricultural contexts. Through this research he is credited with devising the “diffusion of innovations curve” and theory which is descriptive of individuals in different populations who may embrace, remain neutral, or resist a new technological innovation. This is referenced in the current English WikiPedia article for the “Technology adoption lifecycle.”

When it comes to technology integration, it is generally true that only a few teachers in any particular school building likely fit into the “innovators” or “early adopters” categories. The advent of social media technologies, as Chris Anderson has observed in his writings about “The Long Tail,” mean that like-minded individuals (like educational innovators) are able to more easily connect and share ideas than they/we have been able to in the past.

Blogging has been an activity relegated to the innovator / early adopter crowd in most schools to date. My question is, how can we encourage more teachers to join these online conversations? Email tends to be a “common denominator” for communication with and between many teachers today, and social media tools are often not even part of the learning landscape for teachers on the right side of this curve. This will likely change generationally, but how can that process be constructively accelerated?

If you are a campus principal, are you on Facebook? If you’re a teacher, would it make a difference if your principal WAS on Facebook and talked about the benefits of using it to connect not only with friends but also with children and grandchildren who are geographically distant? The superintendent of Tonkawa Schools here in Oklahoma, Rod Reese, uses Skype to videoconference every weekend with his son in Germany. Would it make a difference if your superintendent or school board president was a Skype user?

In the January 9, 2009, Seedlings podcast, Maine educators Bob Sprankle, Cheryl Oakes, Alice Barr, Jeff Bailey and Dan Ryder shared a history lesson about the SEED project’s organization and incentives for teachers. Certainly money was an important incentive, but the real “glue” they discuss in the podcast was RELATIONSHIPS. Social media tools are used for many purposes, but their ability to meaningfully connect us with others is perhaps the most important.

What do you think are the best strategies for “reaching” those teachers in your school or district who fit into the “early majority” or “late majority” categories of Roger’s graph when it comes to technology integration?

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