The term “wireless” can be applied to two types of IT networks that are commonly accessed by students and teachers. Individuals who carry smartphones and some tablet computers into school buildings connect those devices to the network of cellular phone towers. Those connections depend on the owner having an active account with a provider and Read More
In 1994, Seymour Papert, the mathematician from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was a pioneer in using computer programming to teach mathematics to young children, suggested that the history of computers in schools could be deconstructed into three phases. First, there was a brief time when innovative educators had computers in their classrooms and Read More
68: #edtech for Educational Leaders: Choose Two IT professionals confirm leaders, including educational leaders, want systems that are: Inexpensive; Designed and installed quickly; Of high quality. When faced with those three design needs, the IT professional usually responds with “choose two.” While this is often done in an attempt to introduce humor into the conversation, Read More
Appropriate Proper Reasonable As an undergraduate science major, I came to understand quantitative data; we measured what we observed in the laboratory and in the field and we summarized and evaluated it to draw conclusions about the world as we saw it. Patterns in numbers were our window into the systems we studied. As a Read More
“So, is my school’s technology good enough?” is a question that principals and curriculum coordinators and superintendents ask—of course they don’t usually ask it when their IT coordinators or staff are within ear shot. The reality is that most school administrators do not have the expertise to assess the IT for which they are responsible. Read More
The question of just what should we educational technology professionals spend their time and energy doing and what school leaders should expect of the IT professionals they hire is one that has been raised by several within my network in the last year or so. The answer that I tend to give is this one: Read More
I made this presentation at the 2015 Association of Educational and Communications and Technology conference. Avoiding Red Herrings: Technology Support that Works Abstract Information and computer technology has been incorporated in teaching and schooling for several decades. Despite on-going efforts to provide both technical support to maintain functional systems and support for educators to integrate Read More
83: Technology Acceptance and Educational Design In 2016, I delivered this paper at the Annual Conference of the New England Education Research Organization. Abstract Despite a long history of computers in schools, many educators continue to struggle with the problem of creating effective technology-rich learning environments. In this exploratory research, documents collected as several K-12 Read More
Scientific discoveries are deep, difficult and complex. They require a rejection of one view of reality (never an easy task, either conceptually or psychologically), in favor of a radically new order, teeming with consequences for everything held precious. One does not discard the comfort and foundation of a lifetime suddenly or lightly. Moreover, even if Read More
Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here. Smith, J. D., Wenger, E., & Read More