One lesson that has arisen from the spring of 2020 for educational technology professionals and the faculty and staff whose work gives ours purpose is (ostensibly) improved by ours is that no one individual has all of the expertise that is necessary for effective online or remote teaching and learning. While few will be surprised Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Education in Spring 2020: The Digital Divide
When I started working in educational technology, scholars and practitioners were concerned with the “digital divide” that existed in schools. Some populations (white, male, and rich) were more likely to have access to computers in schools. When it was first recognized, the digital divide was specific to access to hardware at school. Over time, schools Read More
Humans and Technology
My experiences have convinced me that computer-mediated communication is fundamental to life in the 21st century; humans adopt (with increasing rapidity) the information technologies in their environment and humans adapt their communication habits to the tools. Humans also exapt technology; they find new and unintended uses for technologies.
The Consciousness Instinct
Readers are fans of writers in the same way sports enthusiasts are fans of teams (many of use are both). This reader is a fan of those who explain the world and bring fresh explanations and creative insights to human experience and understanding. Michael Gazzaniga is one such author and my shelf has many of Read More
Teaching in 2020: “Just what should one do as a teacher?”
This seems a reasonable question. One who is entering the field of education should expect that someone who has expertise in education can give a clear and complete answer to that question. Ask any real expert in teaching and learning that question, and you will get an answer that begins with “it depends.” “What exactly Read More
On Being an Educator in 2020
Like many who work in my field, I’ve been thinking (and talking and Zooming but precious little writing) about online learning in the last few months. Here, at last, are a few of my thoughts. To me, one of the issues that is most getting in the way of ensuring students learn is the labeling Read More
The Technology Fallacy
Books about “the digital future” are everywhere. I would look at my bookshelf and name some that have affected my thinking in the last few years (actually decades now), but they are in my office on the campus that has been closed for 10 weeks now. The Technology Fallacy: How People are the Real Key Read More
Critical Thinking
The question of “what should we teach?” is a perpetual one for educators. Some describe it as a pendulum and believe their job as an educator is to hold the pendulum as the bottom of its arc. Other believe the pendulum belongs on either extreme. Yet others ride the pendulum and just adopt the most Read More
Yet Another Short Rant on Learning
We have all experienced the change in our brains we call learning. We become capable of remembering information, performing actions, recognizing patterns, appreciating observations, asking questions, and otherwise interactive with ideas, tools, and people in a way we could not previously. Learning is the change associated with becoming aware of and evaluating our capabilities is Read More
Profile of an Early Adopter
This is an excerpt from some work I did recently in which I described school leaders whose adoption of technology planning appeared to reflect Rogers’ (2003) stages of adoption of innovations. Our school had been struggling with some aspects of our educational technology. Both our teachers and our technology people were trying, but we seemed Read More