Echo Chamber or Fermentation Tank

Echo Chamber or Fermentation Tank

During my EduCon 2.0 experience I participated in many discussions. In one such side conversation we bantered about the idea that we are all just part of an echo chamber. I have come across this idea before in the various blogs I read. It is the notion that we are all just preaching to the choir. To some extent I think this is true, but we all must step out of the chamber and into our districts and schools. Here in our schools we often stand alone speaking a foreign tongue.

So I have decided to think of my network as more of a fermentation tank then echo chamber. Here we explore; the what ifs, look for best practices, fine tune our thinking, argue a little, and garner support. So when we step out of the tank and into our schools we can speak with conviction, offer evidence and stand our ground. Sometimes I lose the leaven and need to dive back into the tank to refuel. Sometimes I ‘stink up the place’ and ‘stir up the pot’ with my ideas, as an administrator once told me. I take that as a compliment, we can not foster change and deep thinking without questioning our current ideas and practices.

So to the fellow members of the fermentation tank lets hope we produce a fine wine or good ale. And remember such a product requires time and a gentle touch.

2 thoughts on “Echo Chamber or Fermentation Tank

  1. Hi Beth!!

    Good post — lots to think about — and I think fermentation is a good visual description —

    I am finding that the “Norm of Tech Use” in my life is not the group I see at conferences, twitter with at night, share blog posts with, or converse with on SKYPE.

    However, they are the ones who encourage me, sustain me through frustrations, and point me towards growth in tech and new possibilities.

    But it is still my “NORM” that I have to work with at my school each day.

    The “echo chamber” makes is possible for me to enjoy, enthuse, encourage, and envigorate (okay, a stretch) the people I work with daily and I thank the echo chamber for that!!

    Jen

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