When upgrading the computers in a school that enrolled students in grades K-12, the new technology coordinator did not change the minimum complexity requirements of passwords for the organizational units containing student users. When they first logged on to computers, they were prompted to change their passwords and were met with the complexity requirements. Students in the Read More
Category: Technology
IT Security in Schools
Regardless of the nature of the organization in which they work, all IT professionals are very familiar with the importance of network and data security; this is a lesson taught in preparation programs and all organizations inplement data security practices. IT professionals working in schools should also promote data security, but they must be sure Read More
A Technology Decision-Making Case to Consider
Let’s consider a situation that illustrates how proper, appropriate, and reasonable configurations of IT can influence teaching and learning. I was asked to help resolve some “network problems” in a school. Math teachers had complained that students could not access the online grade book from the computers provided under the recently begun one-to-one initiative. It Read More
Educators’ Technology Skills
Now that networked devices have been available for decades and become mainstream as greater parts of the population became users, it seems reasonable to expect that anyone who seeks to work as a professional in education will arrive on the job prepared to operate or learn to operate desktop, laptops, and even tablet computers they Read More
Is Speech a Technology?
I recently made a seemingly obvious observation in a tweet: “Every technological innovation become obsolete.” (Yup, that is what I tweeted… I’m the worst copy editor of social media posts.) A follower (whom I also follow and with whom I occasionally interact) replied “Is speech a technology?” Realizing the response was to be too long Read More
When I Started Computing
I graduated from high school in 1983. My New England school had a book storage room that had been converted into a “computer lab” with about 6 desktop computers. Two were standalone computers with programs loaded from 5 ¼ inch floppy disks inserted before the machine was powered on. The others were connected to Dartmouth Read More
#edtech for #edleaders: Passwords
Brute force attacks are one strategy whereby hackers attempt to access systems. A common brute force attack is to attempt to guess passwords. By requiring users have complex passwords—complexity being defined by length and different types of characters—system administrators can minimize the potential that brute force attack will guess the password. In the example pictured, Read More
Elevator Pitch: Technology Acceptance
For several decades, several variations of the technology acceptance model have been used to explain and predict the use of technology by individuals and within organizations. In general, when users perceive IT to be easy to use, effective for their tasks, and similar to that used by others; they are more likely to use it Read More
QR and Data Security
Today, URL shortening services and quick response or QR code generation tools are widely available to internet users. While these are useful services when (for example) sharing links to your conference presentation materials with the in-person participants, they can easily be used by phishers for spoofing. Notice in the complete URL, you do have the Read More
IT Policies and Procedures for Different Users
Protocols and practices are ostensibly objective. The same rules apply to all users and, especially those that are controlled by technology are applied with precision. The reality in schools, however, is that not all users have similar capabilities and some protocols and practices appropriate for one group of users may not be appropriate for others. Read More