When computer technology (hardware and software) advanced to the point where graphic user interfaces and network connectivity became standard components of personal computers (about the mid-1990’s), they also advanced to the point where they could display multimedia content (high-resolution graphics, and audio, video and animations) as well. From the second decade of the 21st century, Read More
If we hope to make technology an easy-to-use and useful educational technology that is also secure and reliable, school and technology leaders must gather data to understand the information and instructional technology (I&IT) in schools: Users’ perspectives—There is a rich body of research that supports the conclusion that perceived ease of use and usefulness is Read More
Alvin Toffler (1980) is credited with introducing the term prosumer to describe the pattern of media use that he accurately predicted would dominate in the digital age. The term combines producer and consumer, and a prosumer is described as one who both produces and consumes, sometimes simultaneously. Wikipedia, the open source encyclopedia, is an example Read More
In the last year, leaders from several schools reached out to me to provide some advice as they and their technology leaders were managing serious disruptions in service. Some were the result of failed devices, some were the result of misconfigurations, some the result of malware; all were solved and all led me to some Read More
The question “What does it look like when technology is being used effectively in classrooms?” arises often… it has been treated in previous posts on this blog. Here is another version of my answer that is being repurposed for this blog. Effective “Sreeentime” In recent years, it has become clear to me that there are Read More
In many ways, an information technology network is much like other technologies in that the expertise needed to design and build it is much more specialized and expensive than the work of managing and operating a network. Network engineers are the professionals with the greatest understanding of how to design and build robust and secure Read More
A colleague has been sharing the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s passphrase generator at recent workshops. The steps and tools they recommend can be used to generate passphrases (as opposed to passwords) that are long… so long they cannot be discovered through “brute force… but they can be easily remembered by humans what create a story to Read More
208: Does #edtech Benefit Students? “Our students need computers, and teachers need to use them.” This idea is expressed by politicians, school leaders, business leaders, community members, technologists, and various other stakeholders. We hear the rhetoric loud and clear, but the critical educator wants an answer to the questions, “Does using computers make a difference? Read More
Educators have had access to productivity suites for generations. In the first few years after computer arrived in schools, we tended to use whatever came installed on the machines that we purchased or that were installed in our classrooms. We had many challenges in those days. Anyone remember the student who arrived to print his Read More
“Just what does ‘good’ technology-rich teaching and learning look like?” This question has focused my attention as I recently returned to the field. There is little doubt that classroom are now filled with digital devices. For the first decades of digital teaching and learning, we yearned for the funds to make sure every students had Read More