In general, we can conclude that technology is being well managed when it allows users to be more productive than they would be otherwise. Because management includes financial planning, however, well-managed technology balances productivity and expectations with cost, so it does not exceed the capacity of the organizations to fund efforts. Good management requires effective Read More
Schooling (at whatever level it is experienced) is intended to help students become knowledgeable. Being knowledgeable is a construct we could spend many pages exploring, but let’s assume that whatever readers might have in mind is a sufficient proxy for this multi-dimensional aspect of human life. The nature of knowledge has changed over the course Read More
For dramatic effect, many writers use the phrase “time has been annihilated” by modern ICT. While that seems hyperbole, it does seem reasonable to conclude that time in classrooms is changing. Tasks that once took noticeable time can be accomplished immediately and effortlessly (grading multiple choice quizzes and plotting graphs are two examples that come Read More
Organizations plan. Especially in the last several decades as information technology globalization, and other factors have changed the nature of economic, political, and cultural interaction; leaders have sought to engage members in the work of reinventing what they do and how they do it. In some cases, these efforts are successful; in other cases, they Read More
Cleaning up some files recently, I discovered I had left this off my CV. Ackerman, G. (2017). Technology in support of diverse assessment. In M. Simonson & D. Seepersaud (Eds.). Proceedings of the 40th Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Paper presented at AECT Conference, Jacksonville, FL.
I heard this week of the passing of one more of the teachers who taught in my junior high school. When I was a student, George taught industrial arts. In seventh grade the curriculum was mechanical drawing and woodshop and in 8th grade it was ceramics and metal shop. He was one of three full-time Read More
I learned this morning of the passing of one of my middle school (but we called it junior high school back then) teacher who later became a colleague and mentor. He brought me in to the work I do now and advanced my career and work in ways I won’t forget. One of the projects Read More
This is an extended version of a previous post. In describing education as a social invention, Jerome Bruner observed, “each generation must define afresh the nature, direction, and aims of education to assure [that] freedom and rationality can be attained for a future generation” (1966, 22). He went on to detail how new discoveries in Read More
Social justice education is an idea that has captured the attention of teachers, scholars, leaders, and other in recent years. I have tried to find just what it means for me for some time. For context, I am a white, heterosexual male with grey hair; while I was raised in a weakly-practicing Protestant family, I Read More
As “data” has becoming gate focusing mantra of school leaders, they have become fixed on changes in graphs. When the line illustrating data changes direction, and begins to show the desired changes, we commonly hear leaders say, “We are encouraged by the trends.” Whatever the change, the leaders will then explain how recent interventions explain Read More