Humans have a long history with technology. It is reasonable to conclude that humans and their technologies cannot be separated. Without our tools, our species would not have become the Earth-altering species we have become. When reviewing the history of our technology, we see that information technologies are a relatively recent invention, but for several Read More
Category: Leadership
Why Testing is Meaningless in Schools
It is widely known inside education (but much less so outside of education), that we really don’t know what to teach or how to measure learning. Educational researchers will dispute this, as they spend their entire careers defining learning and measuring it. In science that is allowed, and we accept the conclusions of studies, but Read More
On the Changing Nature of School IT Systems
One of the most significant changes faced by information technology professionals in schools (and other organizations) has been the adoption of cloud-based data and productivity systems. Whereas previous generations of IT professionals configured servers that were physically located on campus to provide necessary services (for example file storage and print management) and they installed applications Read More
A Challenge for Rural #edtech Leaders
The arrival of desktop computers reversed the trend to marginalize electronic technologies and information in classrooms; digital tools and digital media have become important tools for all students, and comprehensive education is understood to provide students experience using these tools. Early in the history of desktop computers in K-12 schools, the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Read More
Elevator Pitch on School Tech Planning
As they collaborate to make decisions about what technology to install and how to manage it, school and technology leaders must share understanding of three ideas. First, the systems must be sufficiently secure to remain functional and reliable, but open enough to allow for the functions educators deem necessary. Second, to accomplish secure yet flexible Read More
Elevator Pitch on Educational Expertise
The expertise we need to improve education comes not from business leaders nor the other citizens who dedicate their time and energy to serving on boards of education or in the legislature, nor even from education leaders (most of whom have built careers building compromises that satisfy different constituencies). The expertise comes from scholars who Read More
A Quick Story of Politics and Science
Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976) was a botanist and plant scientist who lived in worked in the Soviet Union. He was the director of the Institute of Genetics which was part of the Academy of Sciences within the USSR. In that position, he was able to exert political influence and he used that influence to promote a Read More
An Observation of IT in Schools
If you get bored, skip down to the end… Schools have always been information-rich places. There is a curriculum to be taught that comprises ideas, concepts, information, and skills. Learning the curriculum requires information-rich interaction between teachers and students and among students. Humans have invented technologies to facilitate interaction and information exchange for centuries, and Read More
#edtech Steering Committees
School administrators, the licensed professionals hired by school boards to implement their decisions and policies, have ultimate responsibility for all decisions in the school. Efficacious administrators understand they do not have sufficient expertise to make appropriate and proper decisions. They also understand reasonable implementation will also necessitate they make decisions about the limits to what Read More
A Little Reality Regarding Technology in Schools
I’ve spent my career working in education… well sort of. I started as a science and math teacher, then became a computer teacher which led me to becoming a technology coordinator—a position that includes many potential job functions. I have filled them all. Several hiring committees have selected me when they needed someone to sit Read More