Become a Mobile Computing Professional and Let the World Be Your Office

When I began my job with the NYC DOE Office of Instructional Technology my then Director Brian Osborne explained, "We equip people, not places, with instructional tools." At the time a decision had been made by our office to put Tablet laptops in the hands of school coaches rather than desktops because a coach’s job is not at a desk but rather in classrooms with teachers. That simple thought resonated with me and was built upon further after hearing educational gaming expert Marc Prensky share that a student told him, "without my laptop I feel like I'm missing a part of my brain." I could relate.

I rely on my laptop and internet as the extension of my brain that goes with me wherever I am allowing me to be a true mobile computing professional. I do not work from a work office, home office, or mobile office. The world is my office and “I” am my work space. My laptop, internet connection, and cell completely allow me to be a mobile computing professional who can operate effectively, efficiently and immediately anytime, anywhere, on-demand in the entire City in which I work. I can also connect to whomever I choose, instantly, bringing the world to me. I am immediately accessible, reliable, responsive and productive and do not ever say, “I will get back to you on that,” because I have everything accessible to me anytime/anywhere. As my current Director will attest, before we leave meetings, events, visits, etc. the people we have come in contact with already have everything we said we'd deliver. We are in a time where we can share, store, and collaborate on limitless information from anywhere, anytime, and for FREE. For me, “I’ll get back to you on that,” went the way of the 8-track and vinyl record long ago and has been replaced with, “Here you go.”

I feel extremely fortunate that technology has transformed the possibilities for the way we work by allowing us to spend less time in offices and more time being able to provide service and work in the learning environments we support rather than being tied to a desk. Now if I could only figure out a way to be in two places at once...(hmmm...upcoming post on video conferencing and UStream?)