Social media allows people to have public arguments. We can observe them and judge the participants and the soundness of their arguments in anonymity. Such lurking on public argument between one who argued “black lives matter” and another countered “all lives matter” motivated me to finally figure out why the “all lives matter” argument has Read More
In the time between when I left high school (in 1983) and I entered the classroom as a teacher (in 1988), computers entered schools in a serious way. Whereas my high school had a small computer room for students to use (I recall four computers in the room which was a converted storage room), my Read More
184: Business and Politics are Not Teaching and Learning Business and politics are human endeavors that are easily measured; the results of business and politics are generally objective and unequivocal. Business measures success by profits, if the profits are sufficient for the owner or shareholders, then the business is judged a success. In politics, success Read More
John Seeley Brown (2000) concluded that in the 21st century, the amount of information that humans access is overwhelming. Information is no longer the essential aspect of knowing. The sense we make of information is the essential aspect of knowing. Brown observed, “The forces that shape the background [of human knowledge] are the social forces, Read More
My colleagues at Massachusetts Community Colleges that use Moodle as their LMS have begun collaborating to offer workshops to faculty and staff at all of our campuses. We did not record the first virtual workshop, but I prepared this abbreviated version of the presentation I made on July 6, 2020.
I am attempting to refresh the thread in which I give my (clearly cynical) interpretations of terms and phrases I have heard form leaders over the decades. This phrase is tossed around with abandon by many leaders and educators. Ostensibly, it is used to communicate the idea that the speaker is open to ideas and Read More
Spoiler alert: This is the rant of someone who is ticked off at a sub set of the individuals in his profession right now. Faculty are in the business of helping students make sense of information and ideas and procedures. This requires they communicate, and we communicate today with files we create on word processors Read More
I decided my “first choice” college was not good fit for me within a few days of arriving on campus. I had some goals while I was there, and I got a “D” in chemistry my first semester, so I arrived back there for the spring semester so that I could improve my second semester Read More
Schools are also organizations that are always seeking to improve. “Quality” is a difficult concept to define, but there is a large industry that is dedicated to helping organizations improve the quality of their work and “continuous improvement” is a goal that articulated in the mission and vision statements of many schools and educational organizations. Read More
In 1986, Larry Cuban, a professor of education at Stanford University, reviewed the history of radio, movies, and television in schools and he observed a common pattern. First, advocates argued the technology could be used to make teaching more efficient and more effective. Second, dubious research (frequently supported by the manufacturers of the technologies) was Read More