A few years ago, I enrolled in a few massive open online courses (MOOC’s) so that I could more completely understand these opportunities for learners. In the time since, I have enrolled in many others, and completed a few. While cleaning out my YouTube videos, I rediscovered the video artifact I created for E-learning and Read More
108: Technology is Recursive Every technology comprises other technologies. As a result, any technology can be deconstructed into its component technologies, and each technology can be understood as part of a larger complex of technologies. Scholars refer to systems that occur at multiple levels in this manner as “recursive.” Although related and connected, the component Read More
“Data” and “research” have been recurring themes in this blog: The Problem with Data On #Data and the Quality of Data On the Ethics of Data Collection in Education Data versus Evidence This post continues the theme, and is focused on one of the fundamental ideas of those who seek to use “data’ or “evidence” Read More
102: Efficacious #edtech If information technology is to be used to realize the strategic goal of allowing students to fully participate in the digital world, then it must be appropriately used, properly configured, and reasonably supported. Deficiencies in any of these aspects of technology management are a serious threat to the overall efficacy of the Read More
Teaching can be deconstructed into two types of activities: Those that introduce new ideas, and Those that help ideas become known. In many classrooms, we teaching proceeds from “new to known.” The teacher introduces an idea and explains it to the point that students can begin to practice the idea, work with it, and (we Read More
95: Edtech for #Edleaders: Managing Network Resources Once IT infrastructure has been installed, IT professionals hired by the school adjust the configurations of devices installed by the engineers and technicians so the network is secure, robust and reliable. They configure settings to authenticate users; give them access to servers, printers, and other devices; and adjust Read More
Beginning in 2011, the Department of Labor awarded four rounds of grants under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program. This was designed to designed to support community colleges as they developed resources and programs for workforce development purposes. For full disclosure: I was employed under a TAACCCT grant as a Read More
The learning science is a relatively new field of study. The major journals in the field began publishing in the early 1990’s and the first conferences recognizing this field also date to that time. Learning science emerged out of the cognitive sciences as field dedicated to the problem of designing classroom and other learning spaces Read More
In the early 1990’s, I was a fan of HyperCard, the program from Apple that allowed users to create “cards,” each with text, images, and buttons (along with other controls) that could be programmed using an easy to understand scripting language. My students and I wrote scripts to simulate genetics experiments, explore probability, and draw Read More
94: Experts and “Expertiness” in Education In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, an American comedian coined the term “truthiness” to capture an idea that individual or groups held as true although there was little evidence of the truth. That comedian applied this term to political situations and the satire was Read More