Did You Know - The Sequel?

I mentioned in the previous post that we were working on a new and improved version of Did You Know?/Shift Happens. Scott McLeod and I have had contact from some folks at XPLANE. What�s XPLANE?

We use visualization to convey complex ideas, processes, and services, and know the discipline of visual thinking is a key enabler to improve clarity of thought, better decisions and faster action.

They contacted us via email (excerpt):

We�re a global information design and consulting firm, and we specialize in visualizing information so it�s more easily and quickly understood. We�d be interested in working with you to produce your presentation into a more visually-charged event. The addition of some compelling information graphics and data visualization could add impact and help the presentation cross more language and learning boundaries that it does in words alone. With your content and our visualization, we�re pretty confident that your work would reach a much broader audience, furthering its mission.

XPLANE has done great work for some very large corporations as well as government agencies (including the U.S. Department of Education). They are currently brainstorming and gathering more data to clean up and repackage Did You Know?/Shift Happens into a more polished production. Now, I�m not saying that this is �the� video that I talked about previously, but it is something real and tangible that we can be working on.

As part of this, we need to address what steps viewers should take after watching the video. When the XPLANE folks first brought that up, I was pretty stumped, because this is such a complicated issue to try to narrow down to a few bullet points. And the next steps might look different in different places (while the themes we are talking about are universal, all education is local). But then Scott McLeod suggested for me to think about it in terms of questions. Now you�re talking � I�m good at questions (not so good at answers, but good at questions). What questions could we suggest that viewers ask of folks that would spur action and change? Scott McLeod is also thinking about this from his perspective at the higher education/school leadership/data-driven change level, and I�m focusing on K-12. I have some of my own ideas for what those questions/actions might look like, but I figured throwing it out to your collective wisdom made much more sense.

So, here goes. You�re not limited to the way I�m framing this � feel free to go in any direction you�d like. But, to get us started, here are some categories for the questions that could appear at the end of this new version of Did You Know?. I�d like you to fill in the ellipses for each one.

Now that you�ve watched this presentation, we would suggest the following:

• Ask yourself this question: . . .
• Ask your child(ren)�s (school�s?) teacher(s) this question: . . .
• Ask your child(ren)�s (school�s?) principal this question: . . .
• Ask your child(ren)�s (school�s?) superintendent/school board this question: . . .
• Ask your state representative/senator/governor this question: . . .
• Ask your congressperson/senator this question: . . .
• Ask your employer this question: . . .

Maybe this is too many questions, or maybe not enough. Or maybe there should be one series of questions that gets asked of all these folks. Or maybe questions are the wrong way to go. You tell me.

Like many bloggers, I enjoy getting comments. But � this time � I�m practically begging you for them (constructive comments, of course, either on this post or Scott's). If you have suggestions for the questions I proposed � or if you have a better way to frame this � please, please do so. As I tell my staff all the time, if you think some (or all) of my ideas are nuts, then you better join the conversation, because how else is your voice going to be heard? Please help us develop this. XPLANE is actively working on this and we hope to have it completed fairly soon. Our target � NECC in Atlanta. Let�s change the world.