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
Category: Technology
On Collaboration in IT Planning
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
#edtech for #IT: Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has been law in the United States since 2000. The intent of the law is to protect the privacy and the personal information of children. In general, this is the law used by social media and other companies that restrict access to their platforms to individuals under 13 Read More
#edtech for #IT: FERPA
Most IT professionals are familiar with the need to keep data secure. In schools, the importance of privacy takes on special importance. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is law in the United States which is intended to safeguard sensitive information about children in schools. While there are some types so information that Read More
On Open Resources in Schools
A wide range of expenses consumes educational technology budgets. Very obvious expenses marked the cyclic spending that characterized the first decades of educational computing; computers arrived in boxed, as did software on disks to be inserted into the computers. As networks were installed, expenses became more hidden from users. Servers, routers, and switches (each with 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
On Digital Information in Schools
Schools have always been places where information is consumed and created. For most of the history of schools, that information was created as physical artifacts (works written on paper, images drawn on paper, songs recorded on tapes, and similar creations). Once physical or analog media is created, it must be copied on to bits of Read More
Thinking About ChatGPT
If the news about ChatGPT had broken at anytime other than less than a month before the end of the fall academic term, the handwringing about it would have been more obvious. There have been a few articles and blog posts describing how this will upend everything and make education and certain jobs obsolete. My Read More
Another Take on IT Decision-Making in Schools
Technology decision-making in educational institutions can be a complex endeavor. In large part, the complexity arises from the governance of public schools. In part, the complexity arises from the misunderstandings different stakeholders have of the work of the other stakeholders. Elected boards of citizens are frequently responsible for decision-making in schools, and those boards hire Read More
On Students and IT
Students and teachers, the users who comprise the largest groups of IT users in school are unusual compared to the IT users in school offices and those who fulfill similar roles in other businesses and organizations. These differences are grounded in the flexibility they need as teaching requires adapting to the interests and unanticipated needs Read More