I’ve heard it said that the results from the Land Use Education and Communication Task Force must be far reaching. It will take significant cultural changes, abandonment of dysfunctional mental models, and vast improvements in public notification systems to turn this ship in a positive direction.
It was mentioned at a recent task force meeting that a “web page” isn’t going to be the answer. I agree and would add that “web page” is a considerably over-simplified term to apply to this concept.
Clearly, the ideas presented in this blog as “Tulsa Online 2.0″ are not The Solution any more than writing better text books is the solution to our education problems. It is only part of a very much-needed paradigm overhaul.
Better text books can help improve education if they’re presented in captivating ways to help students become engaged in the process of learning. But our education system has many larger root problems. Books are an essential ingredient but they’re only part of the solution, just as a great website is also only part of the solution.
Just so we’re clear, I’m talking about a well designed set of online applications and knowledge resources, built on solid principles of usability and made with long term sustainability. It would be an essential, single-point resource available 24/7 and accessible to everyone. It would help demystify the perceived mysteries of our land development environment. It would portray Tulsa as a progressive and welcoming place to do business. It would be a reliable bridge to the knowledge of land development planning.
But it won’t create the changes we need. It will help communicate, through an equal access resource, the changes we have the will to undertake.
