“Tell me what I can do to help”
Author: Gary Ackerman
Formal Education and School Aren’t the Same (Anymore)
On the future of education. The rhetoric of “education is changing” has been white noise since I started in the field. (This year marks 40 years since I started my undergraduate studies. I started in the same year A Nation at Risk was published.) My career has also coincided with the arrival of desktop computers, Read More
How Malware Protection Works
Because it is installed through stealth methods, one usually does not know their computer is infected, or even that a file which appears benign is in fact malware. Both IT professionals who manage enterprise networks and the individuals who manage desktop and laptop computers for their own use have options for installing and configuring software Read More
IT Tradeoffs in Schools
School users are also well-known for trading reliability for functionality and ease. IT professionals know that systems can be configured to perform many more functions than are typically used. Further, many users will use only a fraction of the tools and features available in the applications they use. Of course, using these tools and features Read More
Edtech for IT: Learning Management Systems
Virtual classrooms took on particular importance to teachers and students with the quick pivot to remote teaching necessitated by the COVID pandemic. Even before that, however, virtual classrooms were being managed by school IT professionals and teachers were using them to extend their classrooms and enhance information sharing and interaction. Like other cloud-based infrastructure in Read More
Secure Browsing
Web browsers allow users to select from one of three levels of safe browsing. Each level uses tools to help reduce the potential for risky web browsing. At the standard level, the web browser warns if you are going to site known to contain malware, phish for credentials, or otherwise risk security. Those protection can Read More
Characteristics of IT
When we design IT systems for schools (and for all other organizations), we must address several characteristics to ensure it functions as we need it to:
Cleaning Gary’s Library
Gary is cleaning out his library. Buy his books on ebay.
Elevator Pitch on Caring & Education
Regardless of the outcomes, if your students leave your class: then you have wasted your time… and theirs.
Types of Tests
There are two types of tests that are typically administered to students: standardized and standards based. For IT professionals who are designing systems to administer the tests, there is no difference; devices must be able to establish reliable and secure connections to the servers where the test is housed, user accounts must be created, and Read More