Hello. I'll let today's podcast speak for itself but let's just say that today Discovery Education made a huge mistake in letting their Field Managers go. What a loss. The Discovery Educator Network had been a huge success in the educational world but that changed today. Things will not be the same without the face to face contact with our field manager. It's not about the product - it's about the people.Corporate America 1, Teachers and Students 0.
Linda - we'll miss you here in Liberty, please stay a part of our family. You are awesome!
Please note that these comments are my personal feelings and are in no way prompted by Linda Chiles or any Discovery Education representative.
Direct link to Podcast #53 - Sad, Mad and Angry - Discovery Education Network - MP3 format - 10:30 minutes
Podcast #53 Show Notes:
Hey Eric - What a great podcast! Well done... I was at the Leadership Conference as well. This totally blows my mind and I too feel disrespected and duped. Let's not let up..
ReplyDeleteDonna Criswell
Eric - Great comments and thoughts. It is really sad what this does for trust and I appreciate your willingness to take the time to read and create your podcast. I too am angry and mostly because it sure seems that there was some sneaky business going on there. It's hard to know who to trust anymore!
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving voice to what many of us feel. It isn't about a web site or product that makes it good to use. Rather, it is the people behind the product that create an environment of learning and sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe following is part of an email that I sent to my Field Manager:
ReplyDeleteI am a fairly inactive member of the DEN due to recently added work responsiblities, but I wanted to express my appreciation for the work that you have done. One thing I never failed to do each day was to read your emails and at least check out whatever "new thing" was happening at the DEN.
Now that I'll have to do that on my own I'm not so sure that I'll stay on top of whatever is happening.
I also want to express my extreme disappointment in Discovery's decision to eliminate the human factor from the DEN. As many people have already said, it is EXACTLY this "human-ness" that encouraged us to join the DEN, participate in activities, and most importantly (at least I thought it was) promote the positive aspects of purchasing unitedstreaming.com for their districts.
I am the person that brought unitedstreaming into our district. We have a BRAND NEW middle school, with interactive whiteboards in every classroom. Considering the massive amount of new technology that the staff is attempting to learn, general training on unitedstreaming has been put off until later in the year when the staff has become more comfortable. At this point, only a few people are making use of the site. I had hoped that, with your help as the FM, we would encourage more use within the district.
My concern, now that FM's are not available, is that usage will not increase, and as a result, the district will discontinue funding for unitedstreaming.
I can't imagine what financial issues prompted this extremely short-sighted decision. Talk about an example of "penny-wise and pound-foolish." This decision has created a major disruption in the way that people access the services of unitedstreaming. Most importantly, the way that Discovery has just cast aside the FM's has left a bitter taste in many member's mouths. The damage that this decision has done to Discovery's reputation will be difficult to overcome