Are we that different from Bill (or Steve)?

I found this floating along my RSS feeds (perhaps the response to the RSS overload is the same to the newspaper, you pick out something that is different), an article about how Bill Gates manages his workflow. Reading it, I don't see it's that different from the rest of us at his level - at one level out, there are people that screen stuff for him, some of us may have that luxury as well. Most if not all of his world is paperless - at least his office is. I seem to be much the same way. The paper that is in my office is mostly of the postit variety and scraps that are functioning as postits. Everything else has a digital paper trail, much like Bill Gate, Steve Jobs or any of the other IT "rock stars" you care to name. What is central to the job of all these people is that they are in a position to share knowledge - they are teachers of a sort, and just as they use filters in email and online calendars, is it that much of a stretch to think that teachers, some of whom may be handling far more projects than Bill, use (or be able to use) the same tools? Granted, this workflow may not be for everyone, but I'm thinking that for teachers that are coming out of the Facultys of Ed today, it should be. Personally I know of some teachers who are still paper based and will never change, many of them are causing massive headaches for teachers who are mostly online or electronic already. With any luck, there will be a natural diffusion of paperless adoption for many teachers (pre and in service alike) out there as they find that they can save so much time and effort by using the computer. As a colleague of mine said in a recent lecture to an undergrad class - "the computer is a time machine, it makes time for you by handling the tedium so you can get on with all those other things that are important" this was followed by a comment from the crowd - "like marking?" - he smiled and said "...yes, like marking". Technorati Tags: Technology Integration