Some colleagues in IT departments and I had a chat about ChatGPT and similar tools yesterday. It was interesting to get the perspective of those who work primarily in IT rather than in education. As our chat ended, we were considering how to respond to calls to block access on our institutional networks. Here is Read More
Category: Edtech for IT
#edtech for #IT: On Instructional Technology
Of the digital information technology available in schools a part is used by teachers and learners for their interactions; this is the technology I define as instructional technology. The technology that falls into this category must be affordable, usable, and operational and used to engage learners. Affordable. Traditionally, schools have small budgets for technology, and Read More
edtech for IT: Appropriate, Proper, Reasonable
No IT professional wants users of their systems to be ineffective and complaining. This poses a difficulty for IT professionals who move from business in to education. IT professionals will notice differences (some nuanced and some significant) between the needs and expectations of IT users in business and IT in school. With the more complete Read More
edtech for IT: Acceptable Use Policies
All organizations have acceptable use policies which that define what users are allowed to do with devices and systems owned by the organization. These policies are approved by organization’s governing bodies (school board are generally responsible for adopting policy) and are intended to protect the organization and the systems they support. In general, the role Read More
edtech for IT: User Devices in Schools
Since the first desktop computers arrived in schools decades ago, several generations of computers have been installed in schools, and they reflect the changes we have seen in consumer computers. It is probably more accurate to use the term devices to describe the hardware users use to interact with information and other users. The original Read More
edtech for IT: Accessibility
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in the United States. This civil rights law is intended to ensure all individuals have access to public resources regardless of their disability status. For educators, this means the materials they use in class (such as textbooks) must be available to all. For example, Braille or Read More
How Networks Arrived in Schools
An excerpt from my 2022 book:
Two Stories About Teachers and Technology
During one week when I was managing IT for a rural school, I encountered two examples of how educators do not understand the nature of the enterprise IT systems that we need in schools. On Monday, a teacher brought me a sale paper for a local box store retailer (it was early in the holiday Read More
edtech for IT: Assistive Technologies & Accessibility
School IT professionals often collaborate with special education teachers, leaders, and consultants to select, install, configure, maintain, and manage assistive technologies necessary for students who need them. These devices include items such as Braille printers, keyboards for specialized input, specialized displays, assistive listening systems (for individual students and for groups in presentation spaces), and other Read More
#edtech for #IT: Copyright
One of the most challenging issues related to digital information in schools is copyright. This is especially true in the time since one-to-one initiatives became common. One rationale for adding computing devices for each student to the budget was that textbooks (traditionally a very expensive resource) would no longer be necessary. While textbooks that are Read More