Learning to say "no" - it only took me ten years! :-)

[Laura Gibbs]

This is my 10-year anniversary of publishing things online. Between 1999 and 2009 I sure have learned a lot of things about the Internet... but one of the hardest things has been learning how to say no. Well, I think I am FINALLY starting to learn, ha ha. Here's my "history of saying no" so far:

Back in 1999, when I first learned how to make webpages, I was enchanted, and was ready to sit down with any teacher anywhere anytime and show them how to create webpages using free tools and free webspace. The free options were limited back then, but with Netscape Composer and Yahoo Geocities, it was in fact possible for anybody to start publishing webpages... and I thought every teacher would be so excited about that! How could teachers not be excited about it?
Results: Nada, nothing. Not a single colleague I worked with ever went on to build a real web presence using those kinds of tools.
But did I learn how to say no...? No, I didn't! I was so naive!

Between 2001 and 2003, I was hired by my university to work fulltime with faculty members on helping them to develop a web presence. Now I had better resources to offer (my university provides web space for all students and faculty, plus faculty had access to software like Dreamweaver), and my own skill level was improving exponentially. New tools were also becoming more widely used, such as Blogger.com, Wikipedia, etc. I was so optimistic about what we could accomplish!
Results: One professor at my school became a dedicated blogger (SyriaComment.com). Other than that, nada again, zilch, zero. I left the job after two years since I felt like I was accomplishing nothing.
But did I learn how to say no...? No, I didn't! Incredible, but true. I was still so naive!

Between 2003 and 2007, I was creating my fully online courses (MythFolklore.net), excitedly developing a method of teaching online that was really different from classroom teaching, and really effective. I was so eager to share this with people! So, whenever I was invited to speak at a symposium or lead a workshop, I always said yes. I had so much to offer, and the online world was becoming an ever more amazing place in which to build learning experiences for students. I felt obliged to share my discoveries about online learning with others!
Results: Two professors at my school collaborated with me in developing online teaching models, and that's it: nothing else resulted.
And did I learn how to say no...? YES: at last, I finally realized I had to start saying no.

So, when I moved to North Carolina in 2007, I decided to get selective about this. I have lots of projects online that keep me very busy (my teaching, my own individual projects, projects where I am collaborating with others) - and my time is very valuable to me. In order to protect my limited time resources, I decided I would do consulting ONLY IF the person was willing to pay for my consulting time (as a test of their seriousness) AND ONLY IF I was sincerely interested in their project.

Well, as a result of those criteria, I've only agreed to do three consulting projects over the past two years. And here's what happened... every one of the projects still FAILED, abjectly.

The problem was not a lack of interest on my part (the projects really were interesting!) - the problem was the sheer cluelessness of the other parties involved about how to make use of the Internet. None of the folks I agreed to work with had any understanding about what they could realistically do in a reasonable amount of time, using the resources available to them. So, given their unreasonable goals, their lack of time, and/or unfamiliarity with available resources, they accomplished nothing.

So, here is my new realization: if I am going to agree to do consulting work with someone in the future, I'm adding one more criterion: they need to have some kind of web presence already. The people I was trying to work with over the past two years started out with effectively zero web presence of their own - and each time that should have been a big red warning flag to me, saying DANGER DANGER DANGER, but in my boundless enthusiasm, I ignored that clear danger sign.

I've learned my lesson, though. If someone has not figured out already how to develop some kind of web presence, there is not really anything I can offer them that will truly be useful. It doesn't matter how they maintain their web presence, as long as they have a web presence that they maintain - they could have a website (provided that it is updated more than once every three or four years, ha ha), or they could have a blog (with, uh, more than two or three posts in it), or they could have a wiki (a wiki with some actual content), or they could have GoogleDocuments (publicly shared, not just private), or they could have created some Tar Heel Readers, or they could be Twittering, or they could have materials at Quia.com, or they could have a Delicious bookmarks network, or a Ning, and on and on on... there are so many ways for educators to develop web presence, something of value to share with others online. And really, for someone who wants to be an educator, there is no excuse for not having a web presence, IMHO.

So, after 10 years, I have finally learned that if I am going to try to help someone with teaching and learning online, working with people who have zero web presence is just not productive. If they want to develop some kind of web presence and then come back to me again in a few months with their proposal, then I would be willing to re-consider it. Otherwise, harsh as it may sound, it's really better for me to say no.

It may have taken me ten years, but I think the word "no" has now become part of my active online vocabulary at last, ha ha.