ON Excuses One of the most important roles for an IT professional in a school to remove perceived barriers to using technology for educationally sound purposes. I use “perceived barriers” as a euphuism for excuses. You will find, there are teachers (and others) who will find a series of excuses to avoid using technology voluntarily. Read More
Category: Technology
The Technology in Schools and Those Who Support It
For the last several decades, the information technology used in schools has been evolving. Electronic digital computers (in various forms) and networks first augmented paper resources and records, but now they are replacing print. Regardless of the age of the students the school enrolls, the number of students, or the nature of the curriculum, all Read More
Thinking About IT Professionals and School
For the last several decades, the information technology used in schools has been evolving. Electronic digital computers (in various forms) and networks first augmented paper resources and records, but now they are replacing print. Regardless of the age of the students the school enrolls, the number of students, or the nature of the curriculum, all Read More
On Interactive Whiteboards
Another common piece of hardware one encounters in schools is interactive whiteboards. Ostensibly, these look like whiteboards that have replaced chalkboard in most schools. When connected to computers, these whiteboards function as an input device. Teachers or students using them can launch applications, navigate files, and even use digital markers to write on files. (One Read More
On IT in Schools
For the last several decades, schools have emerged as places filled with digital technologies. Regardless of the age of the students the school enrolls, the number of students, or the nature of the curriculum, all schools rely on information technology systems for teaching, managing student data, and for facilitating business operations. Students use Chromebooks, tablets, Read More
Educators and Technologists Don’t Speak the Same Language
I once served on a committee hiring a professional who was primarily going to serve as a network administrator. We were in the second interview, so there were fewer questions and more discussions, and the candidate asked, “What can you tell me about the environment?” The superintendent who admitted little knowledge of technology began describing Read More
Elevator Pitch on Speed in the Digital World
Whereas previous generations ordered products from mail order retailers and expected to wait several weeks as their order was delivered to the retailer via postal service, was processed and filled, and then shipped back; digital generations expect to place an order on a web site and receive the product within a day or two. Whereas Read More
An Instructional Video Rubric
Teachers talking over slides (or images or diagrams or animations) has become an important teaching strategy during the pandemic. It is likely to continue to be a staple of teachers not just because it will make the pivot to remote teaching easier when it becomes necessary, but because it allows for alternative method of teaching Read More
Elevator Pitch on Natural Technology
Technology is a force that exerts strong influences on society and culture. For those living within a culture its effects are so familiar they are barely perceived and thought to be a natural part of every culture or society. What we expect of people (our peers, our leaders, our children, etc.) and out institutions (schools especially) Read More
Bricoleurs in #edtech
The French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss introduced the concept of the bricoleur. Wikipedia is a good starting point for defining new terms, so I started with that definition when I started promoting this approach to using technology in schools more than a decade ago: “It is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoleur Read More