Network security would be very easy if no one ever needed to use computers or data. From a security point of view, it is unfortunate that people use networked computers. The reality is that we need networked computers and that data stored on them to do our work as educators. IT designers consider confidentiality, integrity, Read More
Category: Tech for Educators
Elevator Pitch: Leveraging #edtech
I used to recoil when the term “leverage” was applied to computers in educational settings; I had heard too many administrators and vendors describe how some tool could be “leveraged to improve student outcomes.” As we chatted while waiting for a meeting to begin, an English-teaching colleague pointed out that the word really does apply Read More
An Old Guy’s Story of Media
The need to train and retrain teachers has taken on increased importance as digital computers have arrived in schools. As an undergraduate student enrolled in a course on teaching methods, I made an appointment with the staff at a small media office and had them sign a sheet confirming that I successfully threaded a film Read More
It Isn’t Your Parents’ #edtech
For generations, a fundamental purpose of schools has been to give students experience using the dominant information technology and data sources. When the dominant data type was printed and scripted on paper, education took a very familiar format. Reading, writing, performing calculations on paper, and drawing on paper became the fundamental skills practiced as one Read More
File Formats
We have been teaching in online classrooms for decades now, and I still see faculty–many faculty–who take the files they create with their productivity suites and upload them for students. When they do this, they impose an unnecessary level of complexity on students. In some cases, they cannot open the files as they lack the Read More
Another Look at TPCK
Several years ago, I posted on TPCK. This post further develops my understanding of it. In 2006, scholars Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler from Michigan State University detailed the TPACK framework. According to this model, three types of knowledge affect educator’s use of technology. These three define seven independent and combined domains of knowledge. Read More
Computers Listen and Shout
Two capabilities of networked computers that can be anthropomorphized are listening and shouting. When humans listen they attend to the sounds in the air and attempt to differentiate meaningful sounds from noise. When humans speak or shout, they can communicate with those who are listening. This system requires only the anatomy and physiology of the Read More
Cheap, Good, Fast: Choose Two
Conflicting goals or purposes is a theme commonly encountered in technology planning. There is a well-established heuristic that originated in project management that is used by technology leaders to describe computer and network system design and purchase options for the organizational leaders. It is frequently with humor that technology leaders will say, “Cheap, good, fast, Read More
How We Protect Networks
When we are responsible for managing information technology networks, especially those that are used by children and those that contain data that needs special security, we take steps to control the data that makes it onto and out of our systems. In general, we deploy three types of protections. While these will not prevent all Read More
A Harsh Reality About IT and School Leaders
Information technology. All schools need it. All schools have it. All schools hire individuals with expertise in managing it to… well… manage it. In this post, I describe a reality that many recognize in their schools, but they are reluctant to admit it. This post calls out the inability of school leaders to provide effective Read More