A common complain among students in teacher education programs is that that coursework focuses too much attention on theory. As an undergraduate student seeking a career in science education, I was fond of saying “I don’t care about all of this, I just want to know how to teach.” Well, it wasn’t until I got Read More
With the beginning of another school year, we get another flurry of “how was your summer” questions. I have told people it was a “summer of adapting” for me. There were some circumstances I expected were going to occur, they did, and now I have been adapting. The responses from people to my “summer of Read More
This in an excerpt from my 2026 book Efficacious Educational Technology. It is available under a Creative Commons license. My rationale if that theories are rules we should follow when designing educational technology systems. The “gold standard” of research used to develop theories is the double-blind random experiment. When researchers conduct experiments, they review existing theory and define Read More
“In cultures that lack writing, all individuals participate in the communication life of the group without need for special training or skill. Once writing is introduced, a hierarchy of political power becomes possible with the more skilled readers and writers holding a greater share of the power. Abstract concepts such as property, law based on Read More
As an educator, I cannot go to a meeting where “the data show” is used in one version or another. I appreciate the role of data when we draw conclusions. This character of my nature is deeply embedded in my professional life; it started with my undergraduate studies in science and continued during my life Read More
217: Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory: A Comprehensive Overview I uploaded several of the materials I use when preparing to talk about Diffusion of Innovations to AI and requested a summary. I do see his as a potential use of AI for educators: I had many resources that I had collected over several iterations Read More
Technology Companies “Certifying” Educators I don’t often have time to listen to the radio during the afternoon, but today, I caught the last few minutes of “The start of social media’s legal reckoning” on 1A which I listened to on Vermont Public’s radio broadcast. I only caught the tail end of the commentary, but one Read More
If you have read recent posts, you will know I have connected with a book written before I was born about the nature of science. In this final post, I continue to reflect on the fact that science depends on two types of knowledge, but that is often ignored in most descriptions of science. Nash Read More
180: On Multiple Working Hypotheses When I was an undergraduate student studying biology, a botany professor shared with us an article from Science magazine published in 1890. The paper was presented to the Society of Western Naturalists by its president T. C. Chamberlin. It was very influential to me in 1985, but during a move Read More
106: Teaching in the AI World: A Time for John Dewey I’ve been as educator for a long time. In the 1980’s, the folks who taught me how to do the work connected me with John Dewey. I have continued to read his work over my career and wondered what he would have thought of Read More