To: Chairman Genochowski
From: Frank Odasz, President, Lone Eagle
Consulting
RE: Strategies for Measurable Mass
American Innovation
America’s future
as global leader depends on how well our nation acknowledges, celebrates, and
shares the boom of innovations coming from the bottom up. These best practices
are evolving at an accelerated rate along with all related technologies.
For over 25
years, as an instructional technologist I’ve been directly involved
identifying, summarizing, and teaching “ online best practices” for community
networking ( socio-economic capacity building), teacher training,
train-the-trainer programs, self-directed Internet learning (digital literacy)
and “Learning-to-Earn” (ecommerce and telework strategies.)
The question stands: “How can broadband lead to mass
employment and education for low-literacy, low-income citizens?” Mining raw human potential is the new
gold rush; projected to determine the competitive GNPs of nations. There is a
sense of urgency here.
Attached is a
short summary of key opportunities to accelerate mass American innovation
related to authenticated
“best practices” for broadband utilization at all levels. The following
recommendations can be demonstrated by measurable short-term proof of concept
pilot projects.
What Gets
Measured Gets Done: Measurements Define Success
1.
The Top Down Must Partner Meaningfully with the Bottom Up!
2.
Motivational Messaging Needed: Redefining Digital literacy in the 21st
century
3.
Initiate a national “Call to
Action” for Mass American Innovation to populate an authentic peer-evaluated best practices clearinghouse
with peer mentors and more. One first short universal Train-the-Trainers online
course is recommended.
4.
Conduct multiple simultaneous pilot projects as a friendly competition
showcasing new visual metrics that mirror progress back to individuals and
communities for who can measurably prove to be the most “intentionally
innovative.” (Metric models exist.) One good success story can change the
perception of all communities as to what’s possible.
The many FCC
pilot programs currently being planned are an opportunity to develop a true
innovations acceleration national dynamic. Consider the following as a brief
summary for solutions that can prove their merits in the short term.
Your Resource, Frank Odasz
To: Josh Gottheimer,
Senior
Counselor to Office of the Chairman Julius Genachowski
From: Frank Odasz, President, Lone Eagle Consulting
Email: frank@lone-eagles.com
Cc: Jordon Usdan
RE: What Gets Measured Gets Done: Measurements
Define Success.
Cautions and Opportunities for FCC Digital Literacy Initiatives
I’d like to
share a number of specific recommendations and opportunities based on my 25
years aggressively involved with digital literacy training in person and
online.
The term
broadband is too general to be meaningful to most citizens. Greater
understanding is likely if you use the term; “Connectedness” as it begs the question of relevance as to whom, what, and why.
You asked me
what’s missing? My short answer would be – A smart plan to leverage; The most
scalable awareness and educational solution; self-directed distance learning, leading
toward meaningful content creation and peer collaboration, related to ongoing sharing
how to realize the most essential broadband benefits related to specific needs.
Key Points:
1. The Top Down Must Partner Meaningfully
with the Bottom Up!
Ask all diverse
Americans to participate in determining the most “essential broadband benefits”
they know about. Conduct this assessment WITH all Americans instead of FOR
them. (Nothing about us, without us!)
At issue is implementing
smarter crowd-sourcing methods for leveraging grassroots innovations from all
Americans on an ongoing basis.
The former Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment reports "The diversity of innovative applications required
to create a successful national information infrastructure can only come from
the citizens themselves."
Federal Crowdsourcing May Solve Problems Fast
http://www.govtech.com/pcio/Federal-Crowdsourcing-May-Solve-Problems-Fast.html Kessler said another less-obvious
benefit to crowdsourcing in general has to do with getting a glimpse of what
truly motivates people. “Crowdsourcing proves that people aren’t only
interested in money,” he said. “People are motivated by helping others and by
status and recognition, in this case, by intellectual stimulation and doing
something meaningful with their lives. I think that’s a huge driver of
crowdsourcing’s success.”
Here’s a 15 minute TED talk “How web video powers global
innovation.” In short, it suggests an open peer review process sharing the best
of the best, and inviting all global innovators to build on these shared
innovations, as the inevitable evolution that is already functioning on a
global basis. I think this video can be the basis for dialog regarding the
broader C2C mission.
How Web Video Powers Global Innovation
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html Strongly recommended viewing, it will be obvious as to
why…
2. Initiate a
national “Call to Action” for Mass American
Innovation
That President
Obama’s 2008 campaign successfully organized and mobilized 13,000 local action
committees proved what’s possible, but we’ve yet to hear a vision or a
“Call to Action” for Mass American
Innovation. It is time for all
good people to get involved to ferret out what “Real Benefits for Real People”
are truly accessible, online!
Engage All Americans in the challenge for assessing and sharing
the “best they can learn to do” with broadband via diverse assigned roles and
competitions. A short train-the-trainer self-directed online course can teach
literally anyone the four essential skills for how Everyone can become both
learner, and teacher, consumer and producer, all the time. This can include incentives of
additional free online training in return for local mentoring services and how to easily create online videos to show
others their “best practices.”
Creating thousands of new local “Instructional Entrepreneurship”
businesses is viable.
3. Defining Digital Literacy in the 21st century:
Motivational Relevance Messaging is Needed:
Noting the Ad
council will launch a three year national broadband campaign this Fall I’d like
to suggest the FCC take caution confusing marketing sizzle and general promises
of broadband benefits with statements that suggest basic digital literacy
training will deliver the high end potential benefits.
The first C2C
announcement and many of Genochowski’s public statements allude to promises for
which no one is taking responsibility… to provide the necessary training to
deliver these much needed outcomes.
Chairman
Genochowski and the C2C have stated digital literacy is necessary to be able to
engage in the $8 trillion digital economy, and enables saving up to $7,000/year
by low income families. BUT, this is only true if the appropriate training is
explicit and delivered. What gets measured gets done!
America’s End Goal is everyone actively learning to grow
their individual and community capacity; the new gold rush. Everyone involved
in learning, sharing, creating meaningful online content, encouraging others,
expanding everyone’s capacity for imagination and innovation.
This means
literally everyone engaged in effective collaboration in an appropriately
defined role for contributing to the socioeconomic local capacity-building of
their local community, neighborhood, and/or demographic group of preference.
The challenge is
mass participation by stimulating a new democratic dynamic creating a
sustainable national learning society where Everyone is both learner and teacher, consumer and producer, all the
time.
Digital Literacy Redefined as 21st
Century Workforce Readiness:
1. Learner: Self-directed
Internet learning skills
have become essential.
2. Teacher: Teaching others
via peer mentoring and collaborative group learning is how most people learn, and new tools
allow anyone to easily create self-directed learning resources to share with
peers, locally, and nationally, across all vulnerable populations.
3. Consumer: Smarter
consumerism using
smartphone apps, shopping comparision sites, groupon and similar new tools have
become mainstream.
4. Producer: Producing meaningful
content is an essential part of creating value in a knowledge economy, and
growing a marketable digital identity in the relationship economy. New tools make it so easy everyone can
be successful!
Here’s a simple short
video showing use of several free web tools for local collaborative engagement
and sharing meaningful resources, already in practice across Alaska. Anyone can
create similar videos easily with free software, no camera needed, to show how
they are benefiting from broadband.
Digital Inclusion Strategies for Measurable Mass Innovation
Across America
-
A 3 minute overview of What's Working for Others Like You!
4. Engage
“intentionally innovative” local communities and neighborhoods
in a video competition on “Why
Broadband?” SHOWING what’s measurable and replicable.
Conduct
multiple simultaneous pilot projects showcasing new visual metrics that mirror ongoing
progress back to individuals and communities as a friendly competition for who
can prove to be the most “intentionally innovative.” (Metric models exist.)
Ownership of the
“promise of broadband” has everything to do with what communities can do
for themselves and each other.
Chairman Genochowski recently stated
“We’ll make or break it at the local level.”
Identify where federal responsibility
ends and local responsibility begins.
Assign the
responsibility for local action by identifying the characteristics of intentionally
innovative communities, with the explicit goal of establishing regional cross
communications among intentionally innovative communities of communities, to
generate the exponential benefits of broadband-enabled collaboration. “If
we all share what we know, we will all have access to all our knowledge.” “No one knows as much as all of us.”
Asking the hard
questions in these times of dire needs is the leadership the nation needs; In
the past 3 years, WE have lost all the economic progress of the last 2 decades.
1:2 Americans
are now in poverty, the middle class having lost 40% of their assets.
The question stands: “How can broadband
lead to mass employment and education for low-literacy, low-income citizens?”
The article
below states digital educational and economic opportunities are wasted if
minimal digital literacy is provided. That C2C begins with the goal of truly
empowering 25 million low-income households – amplifies the potential important
benefits, and the real risk of missing the mark.
New Digital Divide Seen in Wasting Time Online
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/us/new-digital-divide-seen-in-wasting-time-online.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all
There is a global challenge before all of us; to
identify from global sources, specifically to share locally, the best
solutions, resources, and tools, to fuel the home fires of local innovation.
Why not make this the mission of Connect 2 Compete? I.E. American as global
leader teaching the world “How-To.”
John Horrigan,
contributing author of the NBP, suggests instead of the Lifeline pilots
focusing on “ Carrier to Consumer,”
that the proper emphasis be on “Community
to Consumer.”
In Closing: The Internet has created an indisputable
boom in bottom up innovations. The sheer volume of which has outperformed
universities, corporations and governments. At issue is the opportunity to
devise a truly open process to identify and disseminate authenticated best
practices for motivating engagement in broadband training, with emphasis on
entrepreneurship and 21st Century Workforce Readiness, which
produces measurable outcomes with the least cost, time, effort, and
prerequisite literacy.
ADDENDUM
About Lone Eagle Consulting
Frank Odasz has
formally presented for NTIA on these issues for APEC, twice, Calgary 2006,
Tokyo, 2008, and formally advised BTOP prior to the ARRA initiative. (See links
to whitepapers below) He presented for the FCC Tribal Telecom Initiative which
posted Lone Eagle’s examples of broadband training best practices. He created
the Big Sky Telegraph, one of the first online educational networks in the
U.S., 1988-1998, and has been teaching teachers, librarians, homeschooling
parents, and citizens online courses for 25 years.
Learn more:
Lone Eagle’s 2012 Update on
National and International Activities
http://lone-eagles.com/expertise.htm
Lone Eagle’s Online Curriculums; http://lone-eagles.com/guides.htm
As a member of the FCC C2C curriculum
committee Frank
contributed recommendations (linked below) which includes a free web tool that
allows all Internet users to post online video captures for peers sharing
step-by-step what they have learned to do with broadband that produces
measurable outcomes.
http://lone-eagles.com/C2Chomework.doc
http://lone-eagles.com/C2Chomework2.doc
Key Whitepapers from Lone Eagle
Consulting
Lone Eagle’s Original
Advice to the BTOP Initiative
http://lone-eagles.com/getitright.htm
America’s Historic
Challenge to Fund Mass Innovation
without the risks of
political backlash due to lack of documented results
Lone Eagle’s
Whitepaper for APEC 2008 in Tokyo, presenting for NTIA
http://lone-eagles.com/social-engineering.htm
Global
Best Practices for ICT Capacity-building
Strategies for Efficient
Ongoing Identification and Sharing of Best Practices
http://lone-eagles.com/RTCletterofinquiry.docx
The Rural Telecommunications Congress
best practices clearinghouse proposal.
Recommendations
on Best Practices Clearinghouse Models
http://lone-eagles.com/bestpractices.doc
Pilot Project Recommendations
to Google’s CEO
http://lone-eagles.com/larrypage.doc
What Gets
Measured Gets
Done http://lone-eagles.com/measures.docx
Sample Trends Report – Demanding Immaculate Integration
The headlines
below are suggestive of trends to inform our next steps. These were gathered
over only a few days last week and someone needs to be tasked with keeping up
and integrating the best of what’s already happening.
(From Headline aggregators at Benton.org and www.matr.net)
Understanding and using Business
Intelligence and Advanced Analytics is Everyone's New Job Requirement http://www.matr.net/article-50529.html
One
way to raise awareness about the power of new analytics comes from articulating
the results in a visual form that everyone can understand. Another is to enable
the broader workforce to work with the data themselves and to ask them to
develop and share the results of their own analyses.
The City as a
Start-Up
http://matr.net/article-50793.html
"You need to build stuff that
people want. You need to attract quality talent. You have to have enough
capital to get your fledgling ideas to a point of sustainability. And you need
to create a world-class culture that not only attracts the best possible
people, but encourages them to stick around even when things aren’t going so
great."
Federal Crowdsourcing May Solve Problems Fast
http://www.govtech.com/pcio/Federal-Crowdsourcing-May-Solve-Problems-Fast.html
Top ten ways broadband saves low income households money
http://www.internetinnovation.org/library/special-reports/access-to-broadband-interent-top-ten-areas-of-saving If this is true, why is no one teaching it as the #1
good reason for broadband adoption?
Why Every School in America Should
Teach Entrepreneurship
http://www.matr.net/article-50495.html
As
an educator of at-risk youth for over thirty years, and NFTE's founder, I've
seen only one thing consistently bring children raised in poverty into the
middle class: entrepreneurship education.
Here's
an article on what low income Internet users are really doing and not doing.
Begging the issue of serious training and ongoing assessments. People are
either growing their capabilities and knowledge or remaining static. We can't
make any assumptions.
New Digital Divide Seen in Wasting Time Online
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/us/new-digital-divide-seen-in-wasting-time-online.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all
Free Tool Gauges Website Engagement Effectiveness
http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Free-Tool-Gauges-Website-Engagement-Effectiveness.html
Six stages of digital community engagement
http://www.digitalcommunityengagement.com/
In Support of Community Driven and Responsive Digital
Literacy Training
http://oti.newamerica.net/blogposts/2012/in_support_of_community_driven_and_responsive_digital_literacy_training-67158
PBS Stations Need to Become the Youtube of Local Communities
http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/pbs-stations-need-to-become-youtube-of.html?spref=tw
Fundamentals of Social Media Support for Learning
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/831/fundamentals-of-social-media-support-for-learning
How can we raise the profile of innovators in our
community?
http://www.matr.net/article-50718.html
A
new way to make six figures on the Web: Teaching
http://benton.org/node/123470