When listening to students and teachers, as well as administrators and staff who comprise the users of information technology systems in schools, I hear complaints about the technology (they tell me it is unreliably and insufficient) and I hear complaints about the people charged with managing IT (they tell me technologists are unresponsive to and Read More
School and technology leaders generally concur that the IT systems in schools should be of high quality (for now, we can define “high quality” as being functioning and used for relevant purposes). Quality is also understood to be a measure that has no ceiling; one can always makes changes that will improve the degree to Read More
Another old piece, that still seems to have relevance: Human communication is influenced by the technology used to communicate. Ostensibly, this seems an obvious statement of a simple relationship. In the 21st century, we observe on a daily basis people (usually people young that we are– this statement is true of almost anyone who is Read More
Appropriate Proper Reasonable Goals seem a natural part of human organizations and design; we define what we want, then take steps to achieve what we want. Those who have been involved with defining or achieving goals are likely familiar with the phenomenon of “moving goals.” We observe this when a goal is defined and when Read More
Humans have a long history of using 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 thousand years, we Read More
214: Configuration Matters with School IT All IT users know the systems work well sometimes and they don’t work well other times. Systems function well only when they are properly configured, and IT professionals (usually) complete formal programs of study to learn the craft of configuring IT and pass professional exams to verify they know Read More
Innovation is defined as “doing things differently.” In education, leaders, including technology leaders, must negotiate a balance between existing practices and innovation. Educators are professionals who are deeply invested in what they do and how they do it. While “we have always done or this way” is too often given excuse for not implementing new practices, including those thought to be improvements, it is also given Read More
221: An Important Role for #edtech Leaders Technology comprises hardware, software, network infrastructure, cloud platforms, and personnel resources. IT leaders must be prepared to accurately assess each when making technology procurement decisions. The assessment must integrate both internal and external factors. The internal factors are grounded in the contingencies described in a previous section. Software, for example, has system requirements, and if the existing hardware and operating systems Read More
I have been cleaning out old digital files. Here is an interesting piece I found:
During one week when I was managing IT for a small rural school, I encountered two examples of how educators do not understand the nature of enterprise systems. On Monday, a teacher brought me a sale paper for a local box store retailer (it was early in the holiday gift buying season). She told me she had $300 Read More