OWEA Vision

During the F2F, we'll be using the Grove method to define our short and long-term vision on Day 1.

[Strategic vision process]

Context map

Photo from the group discussion [Context Map on Flickr].

SPOT Matrix

Photo from the group discussion on Flickr:

• [set up for SPOT Matrix discussion]
• [SPOT definitions]
• [SPOT Matrix]

Some key questions

• What is the grand vision for OWEA?
• How do we define success?

Five Bold Steps

Photo from the group discussion [Five Bold Steps on Flickr ]

Concept for OWEA Structure

• OWEA Structure PDF: [1]
• OWEA Structure OmniGraffle: [2]

Beyond the above structure which illustrates a series of relationships that make sense in the short term as we get our initiatives off the ground, we need to consider how we might work together when we are beyond model schools. How will we work together to get accreditation bodies to adopt our recommendations?

Aarron: first [possible] concrete outcome is an established model program (UTC) that uses curriculum materials from OWEA members, has guest lectures from significant industry leaders, and we help them establish some high profile internship programs.

Notes From WERock Day 1

Wednesday August 5, 2009

Context Map

Photo of context map

• Web Industry Trends
  • Hiring policies and defined skill sets, need to know more about hiring process
  • Need people to know how to learn/adapt best practices and technologies
  • Need real world experience and the ability to work in teams
  • Tool vendors caught in the crossfire of innovating while struggling to not leave educators in the dust
• Web Professional Needs
  • Business case for web standards
  • Vision for quality standards
  • Model business process
• Economic Climate
• Web Education Needs/Trends
  • Skills needed to teach based on Web trends and needs (core concepts, not trend driven)
  • How to teach web concepts/what to teach
  • Need to be convinced of the business case for web standards
  • Professionalism and ethics
  • Supportive administration
  • Passionate educators
  • Teach evangelism
• Open Web/W3C Needs
  • How to teach web concepts/what to teach
  • Emerging field of practice
  • Representation from industry and education
  • Reality check - feedback from faculty, industry and students
• Web Customer Needs
  • Immature business models that have not yet caught up with technologies
  • Linked open data
  • Web interfaces everywhere (iPhone, game consoles, Kindle, etc)
  • With complexity and diversity of interface/web experiences, we have a crisis of skills. We don't have enough senior, highly skilled professionals
  • Conflicts between proprietary vs open standards
• Uncertainties

Note: We'll create a dictionary reference on key terms such as "web professional", "school", etc so we have a consistent understanding of our language.

SPOT Matrix

Strengths

• Industry needs OWEA and all members need one another
• Energy, passion, and dedication in the group
• We are an accomplished group of people with much real world experience
• Our members represent a broad swath of sub-disciplines (business, educators, browser vendors, design, development, etc)
• We are a diverse (demographic and skills) group from around the world
• All members are key influences with leadership skills, but can also follow well
• We have a great number of professional, relevant connections
• WaSP InterAct, Opera Web Standards Curriculum, Yahoo Juku, and Adobe Education content
• Mutual respect within the team who are good at transcending ego
• We are mostly from a grass roots background

Problems

• No internal funding
• Existing web developers who have no degree feel threatened by value being placed upon those with degrees
• Few connections to government
• Members have limited time
• Missing a clear vision currently
• The breadth of perspectives may cause fragmentation
• Scale of membership could make progress difficult
• Governance of the group could negatively impact progress
• We may be overlooking some important parts of the ecosystem we are trying to create
• Lacking well defined roles of web professionals
• The breadth of our industry makes it hard for us to focus on one area (too many options)
• There are many problems with making collaboration work when members are around the world

Opportunities

• We can get investors who will be emotionally invested as well as financially invested
• Influence accreditation bodies that could affect many schools
• Make great connections between industry leaders and well known schools
• Establish a recognized, sustainable standards body for web education
• UTC as a model pilot program that can be replicated
• Create a united teaching/learning resource that fosters best practices
• Influence evolution of the Web industry - we make the industry sustainable
• Provide companies with valuable resources (interns, skilled employees, hiring guides, client education guides etc.), which reduce operating costs and spur innovation
• Education will trickle down to clients and consumers
• Create respect for our craft
• The connections and clout of OWEA could influence the development of browsers and authoring tools
• We could give educational institutions a "seal of approval" that could legitimize their positive efforts

Threats

• Businesses often don't care about or perhaps don't understand web standards
• The pace of change in the industry is rapid
• Over stratification of roles in the web industry
• Schools/faculty may be averse to outside advice and potentially being told they are teaching a subject improperly
• OWEA's existence could be perceived as threatening to schools (sense of "us" versus "them")
• We could become too focused on how we organize ourselves and stop making progress
• Potential lack of relevance - carrot but no stick
• OWEA could become so big with members that it could lose it's ability to be productive
• OWEA content could be used as a buffet, which could result in critical competencies being left out of curricula
• There's not enough space in curricula to cover all of the topics that need to be covered
• We may have trouble getting traction internationally
• Loss of educator evangelists to the industry
• Perceived bias - OWEA serves all

Lighting Talk: Chris Mills

We've gotten a lot of positive feedback about Opera WSC and WaSP InterAct. Many educators are using this educational material in their classes. Educators and students are thankful. Employers are also interested. Veerle Peters loves Opera WSC because she can send clients to it to quickly educate them on important issues. An 85 year old man in Australia is using Opera WSC to teach himself about web standards. Opera WSC is even being used to teach refugees who need guidance on how to get back on their feet and get a job.

“The only people I've failed to teach web standards to are heavy metal bass players.”

Five Bold Steps

1. Establish OWEA structure
2. Model program at a university, community college, and a high school
3. Define outreach and evangelism models and pilot activities
4. Get more people invested - resources and money
5. Participate in standards development with eye on implementation and education