IT Skills and Educators In the first decade desktop computers were in schools, most teachers had little experience with computer technology, so dedicating professional development resources to train teachers in the basic operation of systems (tasks such launching applications, creating and editing documents, and saving and printing) was appropriate and necessary. Soon thereafter, the local Read More
The composition of the leaders who set school agendas, policies, and procedures is an interesting aspect of these public institutions. In general, we recognize two groups of people who participate in schooling as adults. There are those who liked school or were successful in school; individuals in this group tend to advocate schools that reflect Read More
Education is a practice that has an interesting relationship with technology, especially information technology. Whenever a new technology arrives, there are teachers who perceive it to be an intrusion. This is a reasonable response as the new technology will be causing them to reassess their practices, change some, and abandon others. Many interpret this as Read More
As educators, we have our students’ future in mind. I am resisting the urge to write about the misguided strategy of adults looking to their past to predict students’ future. I am writing instead about the timelines wise educators use when they are looking towards students’ futures. We really should be concerned with three futures. Read More
Educators seem to view their practice as one of two evolutionary processes (here I am using evolution in the sense of change in a recognized direction). It is either: Those who have been in the field for more than a few years, will point out that these two often happen in cycles. The same change Read More
Because information technology (hardware and software as well as network resources) changes so quickly and new tools are developed and refined so quickly, it is likely that options exist that even connected educators are not aware exist. The purpose of an awareness presentation is simply to introduce a technology or strategy to an educator (or Read More
“Those who can do. Those who can’t teach.” We have all seen this quote and observed (accurately) that it doesn’t show the great wit that many who toss it around think. Poems have been written about it; keynote speeches have been given about it. Books and articles have been written about it. We all despise Read More
• curriculum comprises well-defined information and skills that represent necessary human knowledge • the purpose of schools is to ensure students get the information and skills into their brains, thus become educated • educators know how to deliver instruction so the curriculum is transferred into students’ brains • the most efficient instruction occurs from simple Read More
I’ve seen the requests from many desktop support teams: “Before you add technology to grants, please include us in your planning.” I understand their rationale. They are responsible for installing, configuring, and managing it. It must integrate with existing systems and be reliable, robust, and secure. I would be sensitive to their requests and I Read More
A colleague asked for an appointment this morning. She wanted to be sure she was properly reading the logs from the LMS. If you did not know, your LMS tracks everything that you do. What you clicked, when you clicked it, and from where you clicked it are all recorded by the LMS. I have Read More