Author: dmcgavock

In Flight to London – Aug 16

Joni and I left O’Hare in Chicago at 9:00am this morning, to Board our 787 flight to London. Knock on wood… we have enjoyed very good circumstances so far. Our flight in from St. Louis was less than half full so we boarded early and landed early. Our connection through O’Hare was 8 gates down from where we came in. Our flight to London also left on time and while it is a large group of people, everyone has been polite and well behaved. Joni and I have a 3 seat location with an empty seat between us and we’ve just finished a very tasty breakfast of eggs and potatos, with coffee and a croissant. We just joked that we could get used to travel like this for a few months. It would be like saying I could bike forever after 30 minutes of downhill cruising. 🙂
It IS amazing how comfortable they have made airplane travel. While they don’t allow the leg room that they once did, they do provide some great comforts; movies and music to choose from, pillows, blankets, food, drink (including free beer), headphones, in flight maps to show you exactly where you are. In short they provide all the distractions and sensory desires a human needs for taking your mind off where you are.
As I watch my fellow passengers reach for their favorite distraction, I’m drawn to wonder distractions benefits and shortcomings. Distractions are an interesting process of the human mind. Using one thing to take one’s mind off the present can be beneficial if/when we are experiencing chronic or severe pain. It is a useful tool for a parent to distract a 2 year old when he throws a tantrum – more effective than arguing with them, that’s for sure. As a young man I used to run long distance. On one hand, I learned to settle my mind and body into the rhythm of my stride and my breathing. I would settle my thinking and open to the view around me. Despite this centering experience, there were times when I would be looking for ways to take my mind off of the effort and pain I was experiencing. I would manipulate my experience in a way that would make the distance bearable. The best outings were the ones where I was relaxed and open and didn’t “try” (or need to distract) so much. While I didn’t realize it at the time, the sweet spot was simply to relax and let be in the expanse of the experience open in front of me.

The passengers on this flight (including myself) are in a stressful situation. We don’t want to think about the discomfort we are feeling or the possibility that we won’t make it to our destination at all. We are cramped in a tight space with a large number of strangers, with different customs, different language and different colored skin than our own. Rather than contemplate these unsavory details most of us look for outlets. I say most because I believe there are people (I’d call them “realized”) who don’t require or desire distraction.

This exceptional person remains open to the experience, settled in his/her breath, appreciating the present moment without need for an “escape”. Some may doubt that this person really exists but I have had the good fortune to meet people who have this presence of mind. I can’t say that it is an obvious feature; something that is easily detected. I can’t say that I can see into their experience either. All I can say is that I have felt some sense of this presence in myself when I sit with them for a time. They don’t have to sit perfectly still or quiet for this to arise. They are intelligent, articulate, even busy people. But as they move about and talk they simply exude this confidence and grace. I feel this when I see the Dalai Lama and with my meditation teacher Tsoknyi Rimpoche.

As I sit here and contemplate my day, my pending arrival in London, my journey to Nepal, I want to remember this way of being. Paradoxically, I desire to find a gap in my desires.

The Miss’s – Mississippi/Missouri

Joni, Mom and I are on our way back from Starkville, MS. We said goodbye to Hannah and the girls this morning as they went off to school and work. Lilly was excited to begin preschool at her new school. I found her singing and dancing in her playroom this morning, sunglasses on, watching the sun rise out the eastern window. It was a treat to find her performing for no one, with pure joy, unselfconscious. I hope she can enjoy that state of mind for a few years at least, perhaps a life time.

It was fun being in Mississippi with Kyle and Hannah and the girls though we didn’t do much more than eat, hang out, play, change diapers, nap, and chat. The big event was to paddle and swim in their community lake. With a paddle board and a boat with an electric motor, we enjoyed touring the lake and jumping in for a cool dip. This was a great remedy to the hot Mississippi heat.

Lilly had yet to begin school for the year so we had more time with her than anyone.

Having my mom with us added another warm dimension to our visit. There were a few moments when I took a mental picture of the 4 generations of “McGavock girls” around the table. As I get older I realize how precious these moments are and how quickly they pass.

The Mississippi interlude was a great respite from all the planning, plotting, bookwork and bookings we

have been doing. Nice to have the slow pace and time to catch up on some of the more minor details. I took time to organize and consolidate my computer files and finally to merge my user account onto Joni’s computer. We’ve decided that bringing one computer will be all we can carry in our luggage and all we need for our travels. It’s amazing how much weight a computer occupies in the totality of all things for travel. Given that we have an iPad and our iPhones we can definitely do without 2 computers. Turns out that it was relatively easy to replicate all my account information and applications onto Joni’s computer. I also had time to finish the instructions for maintaining our house that I had begun so long ago. Thanks to Google Docs and YouTube I was able to publish and update instructions with photos and movies. Hopefully, this will insure that our house is in tact and maintained upon our return.

Flash forward to Tuesday Aug. 15th …I failed to finish this entry the day I started it. Tonight we are in St. Louis, at the Holiday Inn, repacking our packs for the flight to London early in the morning. We’ll rise at 3:00 and catch the shuttle to the airport by 3:30.

The past week was full of hellos and goodbyes as we visited with my Missouri family. We managed to gather my brothers and wives at mom’s house for one evening and then caught some more time with them and friends at other gatherings. While the weather wasn’t cool in Colorado terms, Missouri was very pleasant for August; though my pregnant nieces would disagree 🙂

As the week progressed our list got smaller and smaller and we managed to cast off more and more of our belongings into storage while we consolidated the essentials for Nepal. It is quite the winnowing process, like a snake shedding it’s skin. I would go through piles of items, let them sit for a time and then decide, “I can live without that”, “They DO have shops in Nepal if I’m desperate”. The final product is 73 pounds of clothes, educational materials, electronics, camera equipment, and miscellany for me and 52 pounds for Joni. I’m certain that the camera equipment and electronics is what pushes me into the lead. Hopefully we have it well balanced between our carry-on and checked bags so that we don’t have to reshuffle at check in. I’ll tell you how that goes later.

It is an interesting moment, here on the perch of our long journey. It is impossible to know exactly what lies ahead, but I know it will be novel, sometimes difficult and exhausting, sometimes exhilarating, precious, and eye opening. Joni and I are determined to be patient with one another, though I know that may be difficult at times. We have a pact to go slow, and remind each other to be mindful of our environment; keeping our “stuff” safe and together.

Passports – check,   money – check,   baggage – check,   sense of humor – check.

It is an incredible privilege to be going on this trip. I hope that we find ways to benefit others as we soak up the diversity of this beautiful planet.

 

On the Road

We’re outta here. At 1:00 on Saturday, July 29th Joni and I left the Roaring Fork Valley to begin our sojourn to Nepal. It has been an intense few weeks to get to this point of departure; finishing all the last minute touches on our house and turning it over to our friends and new occupants, and then living with friends and family for a week.

Packing for the trip while cleaning the house was a checker game moves, shifting piles of old/new, keep/discard, cleaning the house section by section, packing bags, moving furniture, cleaning another spot, and so on and on. There was the Nepal pile, the US travel pile, the storage pile, the work pile and the final business pile. Moving things around had it’s ups and downs as things were NOT always where I remembered them to be last. Fortunately nothing important has been lost (and least not that I know of).

The most heart wrenching good-bye was to our dog Beau. He is the sweetest dog on the planet. I’m positive of that 🙂 He has had many chapters and many homes in his life. While we torn about leaving him, we know that he is in good hands; continuing to live at our house with caring people. Not only does he have the new residents (Ben and Namrata) to take care of him but he also has the caring eyes of Luanne who lives in our apartment. I’ve never met anyone as focused on animals and their welfare as she is.

Thanks to our friends and family, we had places to stay in Glenwood and Carbondale after we turned over our house on the 23rd. It was a challenge to live in a temporary location with things in the car, still at our house, and in our temporary residences. More challenging than the things were the mental “things” we had to juggle and complete. There was tying up the business of our home, health work, finances and community. All required more concentration and energy than the physical “things” we had to pack. Banking, insurance, selling the car, working, Dr’s appointments and prescriptions – were all things that had to be done in person.

Our last goodbyes from the Valley were woven in to the Carbondale Mountain Fair festivities. We had a chance to see the annual, summer, rainbow-of-tie-dye arrive, visit the vendors, see friends and family for last good-byes and watch some great music.It felt fitting and fortuitous that we were present for the blessing of the Fair, provided by the Ganden Sechen Monks. They come to our Valley every summer to deliver teachings and familiarize people with the culture (and the plight) of Tibet. It is connections like this that inspired our trip to Nepal to serve the nuns at Tsoknyi Gechak Ling Monastery.

Right after the blessing we were treated to music by our friend Frank Martin. Frank’s music and the songs that he writes, while they sound like classics, tell a the story of the people land and events of our time. 

The song, “Blue on Blue” is special to me as it was written about Alaska on a trip that Joni and I shared with Frank’s wife Paula and him. It tells the story of diverse people, traveling on a ferry to Valdez. Similar to the song, I can imagine Joni and I on buses, trains and planes, talking with new people from all over the world, sharing a brief moment in time, and realizing how similar and connected we are.

After the Fair, we wedged Frank into our RAV4 in and amongst our packed bags and boxes. This first leg of our trip – to Colorado Springs – took us to Joni’s mom’s house. We exiting the Valley over Independence Pass, where we got to wave goodbye to the Colorado Mountain jewels. The narrow road was a foreshadowing of the roads we will travel in the Himalayas, winding around corners, with deep canyons dropping off the side. Here we go…

Personality and Technology Adoption

In recent posts, I’ve described some factors that guide tech adoption. My perspective of adoption behavior is informed by research, my personal habits, and my observations of others’ habits. The research implicates personal (personality) factors guiding adoption behavior – and success.  This isn’t a radical view and really sounds like common sense. Who we are; what we do for a living, our interests and passions, friends, goals and upbringing shape our values and reflect what we adopt. Added together, these factors appear to form an adoption profile. I’m going to call my approach a “technology personality inventory”.

“individuals construct unique yet malleable perceptions of technology that influence their adoption decisions.” (Understanding Technology Adoption: Theory and Future Directions for Informal Learning – Straub – 2011)

Considered together, multiple models of behavior change provide helpful clues to adoption habits. My goal is to create a model that is practical, in that it helps me understand a person’s adoption habits in action. In casual conversations, classes, and 1:1 consultation, I have opportunities to hear how people view their technology. I primarily talk with family (of all ages), students from 40-84, and colleagues who work in technology. The conversation usually includes these questions:

  • what they are using?
  • what they use it for?
  • how well they understand it?
  • what is their skill level?
  • how much they enjoy or dislike the tool?
  • what do they feel/think they need to know to improve?
  • other tools they have considered for this and other tasks?

While my interviews are not formally structured, I have developed a habit of asking and listening to answers to these questions. My approach comes fairly natural. As a behavior consultant, I assessed the behavior of children based on their emotional / cognitive understanding of people and the environment. An important part of my behavior analysis was understanding the motivation of my students. Operating on the assumption that all behavior is goal oriented, I listened closely to students explanation of what they like and what they avoid. I listened to teachers describe behavior incidents; what occurred before, during and after the event. As I develop a model for understanding adoption behavior, I believe that I can refine my inquiries and the insights revealed. As I apply my behavior analysis skills to my work in technology, the following theories (presented in chronology to their development) seem helpful:

Theory of reasoned action – (TRA) Developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975, 1980). Model for the prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The theory was “born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude–behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors” (Hale, Householder & Greene, 2002, p. 259).

TPB is an extension of the TRA and includes an additional construct, perceived control over performance of the behavior. TRA and TPB both assume the best predictor of a behavior is behavioral intention, which in turn is determined by attitude towards the behavior and social normative perceptions regarding it.

I agree that intention is a key to understanding the direction of choice. Understanding a person’s intention, their hopes and fears (social, technical, economic, access) says much about where they are headed. Intention is a broad concept and represents many forces. Clearly, humans exchange intentions and model evidence of our choices to one another. This creates a sort of feedback loop of adoption that shapes the diffusion of innovation. This phenomena has been revealed in recent descriptions of mirror neurons. This is a very hot topic within the field of neuroscience. Mirror neurons are ignited in our bodies/brain when we observe someone performing a behavior or using a tool. This was first uncovered in the 1990s in monkeys.

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an information systems theory that models how users come to accept and use a technology. The model suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, a number of factors influence their decision about how and when they will use it, notably:

Perceived usefulness (PU) – This was defined by Fred Davis as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance”.

Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) – Davis defined this as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort” (Davis 1989).
TAM replaces many of TRA’s attitude measures with the two technology acceptance measures— ease of use, and usefulness. TAM has been revised (TAM2 and TAM3). Ease of use and usefulness stand out as helpful concepts to consider in

The Matching Person & Technology Model (MPT) was developed by Marcia J. Scherer, Ph.D. beginning in 1986. It organizes influences on the successful use of a variety of technologies: assistive technology, educational technology, and those used in the workplace, school, home; for healthcare, for mobility and performing daily activities. Specialized devices for hearing loss, speech, eyesight and cognition as well as general or everyday technologies are also included. Research shows that although a technology may appear perfect for a given need, it may be used inappropriately or even go unused when critical personality preferences, psychosocial characteristics or needed environmental support are not considered. The Matching Person and Technology Model is operationalized by a series of reliable and valid measures that provide a person-centered and individualized approach to matching individuals with the most appropriate technologies for their use.

While it has been primarily applied to special populations in need of assistive technology, it describes factors that apply to any person. Let’s face it, we all have our quirks, abilities and “disabilities”. Our abilities differ by degree and are more pronounced in different situations and different technology. Steven Hawking may have physical limits but he is adept with the technology he has adopted.

When matching person and technology, you become an investigator, a detective. You find out what the different alternatives are within the constraints. —From Living in the State of Stuck: How Technology Impacts the Lives of People with Disabilities

This describes my role as behavior consultant. I applied my detective skills (playing Sherlock Holmes) with my students, trying to uncover their triggers and motivations. My focus was in helping the student to adapt to the demands around her. Needless to say, the ideas within the MPT model are very familiar to me. Instinctively, I pay attention to learning styles, abilities, receptive and expressive communication modes.

As important as it is to understand the personal stories of people adopting technology, it is equally important to consider adoption from a more general theory. Specifically, it’s helpful to consider the macroscopic, social arc of adoption. The Diffusion of Innovations theory is just such a perspective. Often referenced in conversation about technology adoption and marketing. Central to diffusion is communication and the rate at which an innovation moves into the general population. The saturation of an innovation has influence over it’s adoption. As saturation increases, it creates feedback to people at all stages of adoption; Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. Everett Rogers, a professor of communication studies, popularized the theory in his book Diffusion of Innovations; the book was first published in 1962, and is now in its fifth edition (2003).[1] The concept of diffusion was first studied by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde in late 19th century[2] and by German and Austrian anthropologists such as Friedrich Ratzel and Leo Frobenius.[3]

Rogers - Diffusion Model

Roger’s work asserts that 4 main elements influence the spread of a new idea: the innovation, communication channels, time, and a social system. With the advent of social networks, the vectors for innovation have increased dramatically. Social media adoption has become a enabler to technology adoption in general; wheels creating wheels.

I’m excited to apply these perspectives in my conversations with my students, family and random people I meet. It will be interesting to see the patterns in these technology personality inventories. I intend to share my findings along the way. Stay tuned!

Our Inner Toolbox

My most recent blog posts have been devoted to technology adoption and use from the 10,000 foot level. My investigation is making me aware of the research on adoption from the perspective of business, education, and the individual; considered by age, confidence, background, socio-economic status, interests, affiliations and need. Suffice it to say, I have a lot to learn about this research; the conclusions people have made as well as unanswered questions related to adoption.

In this post I present some practical, tangible, and personal practices that support technology adoption and competence. I offer some insights for managing your personal approach to technology.

My Tools

Managing technology has been a professional and personal evolution for me. My personal evolution began in 1987 with an introduction to computers in graduate school. My initial fascination with them grew from writing, spreadsheets and general organization to networking, email and file sharing. I quickly learned that my fascination was not shared by others and that my curiosity marked me as the go to guy when someone needed support. Clearly this was not due to my superior knowledge – I had very little. It was more a question of my willingness and persistence. I valued the resource and had a sense that it would pay off over time.

Institutional Adoption

Fast forward ten years – I found myself working in an advisory capacity to the technology director for the Roaring Fork School District. 5 years later I was hired as the director. My years with the department and as technology director put me in the position of leading software implementations (not to mention software development). I had the opportunity and sometimes dubious task of convincing people that new applications would be useful and worth the time required to learn them. My first assignment was to implement a new phone system across our 11 school sites. Within this project and others, there were a variety of considerations, complications and forces at work. I will delve into these at some other time. Suffice it to say that mistakes were made, and with each project, I learned a lot. One key lesson was that compulsory adoption can put people in a defensive position and create resistance even when skill is not an issue.

Not withstanding the missteps we made in promoting / supporting some computer applications in the school district, I sincerely believe that there is great value in computer applications for institutions and individuals. This belief drives my curiosity to help people through their own adoption process; beyond personal resistance and/or technical confusion. Helping people adopt a new technology or make better use of something they are vaguely familiar with allows me to extend my personal quest with tech tools. Thank goodness I’m no longer expected to make large numbers of people adopt applications without their expressed consent. Now I can work with the willing. Even when knowledge and skill are lacking, consent is a powerful force.

Helping People Choose

I enjoy helping people use technology – they choose; technology that can help them communicate, be creative and informed or that allows them to automate or streamline a task. By virtue of asking for my help, my clients are a step ahead of my former captive audience. They have already made a commitment on some level. They have chosen a particular computer, application and/or goal. They may not be happy with tools they are working with. But they are motivated on some level.

Once a commitment is made, it is important that support and methods are available to overcome inevitable barriers. It’s technology after all! While we can picture the solution working, it doesn’t often work the first time. First there are barriers of time, skill, confusing menus, unfamiliar concepts, and a host of other technical issues. Though the technical barriers can be substantial, the proper frame of mind can help us persist through the learning process. The way we think about our tools, our confidence and learning strategies are essential to our success. A positive attitude, the right environment, adequate focus and self talk strategies come in handy. When I talk about “tools4mind”, I am referring to the software of our brain as much as the hard digital tools. The mind is a much overlooked tool.

Attitude Counts

While we may not consider our frame of mind as important to our success, there is mounting research that lends credence to it. A series of studies were conducted in the 60s and 70s by Walter Mischel at Stanford University. His longitudinal  study found that children who were able to delay gratification showed greater competence / success later in life. Evidence in a 1988 followup study of these children showed:

“Delay of gratification, assessed in a series of experiments when the subjects were in preschool, was related to parental personality ratings obtained a decade later for 95 of these children in adolescence.… Specifically, children who were able to wait longer at age 4 or 5 became adolescents whose parents rated them as more academically and socially competent, verbally fluent, rational, attentive, planful, and able to deal well with frustration and stress.”

In 1990, other follow up studies of these children showed that the the children who waited scored higher on SAT tests.

The original “cookie” study has been replicated and refined. Results have suggested while these traits are pervasive over time, there are environmental factors that mediate the delay of gratification. In other words, if we fail the marshmallow test at 5 years old, we aren’t destined to be an under-achiever. One such study found that previous experience matters:

Children who experienced reliable interactions immediately before the marshmallow task waited on average four times longer—12 versus three minutes—than youngsters in similar but unreliable situations.

Changing the environment by making it more unreliable or reliable had dramatic effects:

“…Children who experienced unreliable interactions with an experimenter waited for a mean time of three minutes and two seconds on the subsequent marshmallow task, while youngsters who experienced reliable interactions held out for 12 minutes and two seconds
…provides strong evidence that children’s wait times reflect rational decision making about the probability of reward.
…If you are used to getting things taken away from you, not waiting is the rational choice.”

 

Nature or Nurture

What are the implications of this study for computer users like you and me? My observations (of myself and others) lead me to believe that persistence is one of the keys to learning technology. In my role as technology director, I supervised 6 technicians of varying technical ability and background. The most common characteristic of the 6 was their desire and focus. While their persistence wasn’t uniform or consistent across all domains, it was evident most of the time. Constantly faced with novel problems, they would hunker down and, through repeated iterations of testing, uncover the secrets of problems and applications. While I didn’t always grasp the content of the problem they were solving, I clearly followed their process. They were pit bulls on the pant leg of technology.

Were my staff born with the ability to focus and persist through digital problems? Or did they develop strategies over time that facilitated their success? Perhaps it was a little of both. Perhaps they were born into secure environments where they trusted that waiting would yield greater satisfaction. Perhaps they were born with brains that favored planning over impulse. My guess is that it was both.

As an adult I have one choice; to find ways to adapt and improve my innate abilities. There is no going back. Brain surgeons and the pharmaceutical companies cannot help me change my brain. Learning to learn, sharpening our brains can make a difference. It is a process of discovery, of practice, and progress. Stay tuned for more.

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