Teachers are always in search of lessons, units, and activities that will help them teach. In the decades since web 2.0 tools arrived on the world wide web, teachers have been able to (for example) create online quizzes and make them available to students; after they take the quizzes, teachers can then check their progress. Read More
The most effective way to prevent network security threats is to avoid them. For that reason, network security efforts are primarily intended to prevent threats from access the network and its data. We require complex passwords and multi-factor authentication for even more identify protection, we teach users to recognize phishing and how to respond. We Read More
Most computer users would not knowingly spread malware, so hackers must use stealth methods to install the software. One example of a brute force attack is bots that search the internet for computers with unpatched operating systems that can be used a backdoors through which malware is installed. One of the most common methods of Read More
Computer users have many choices for web browsers. It is not unusual to find some computer users who have multiple web browsers installed on their computer; while some use different browsers for different purposes, most keep multiple browsers because they know one of the first steps for troubleshooting a malfunctioning web site is to use a Read More
Over my career, I have been a natural scientist; my undergraduate preparation was in science education. I spent many delightful hours in science labs gathering and interpreting data, and I was fortunate that my professors (in botany) included original research. As a science and math teacher, my thinking and teaching was dominated by modernist Read More
Especially late in my career working in k-12 schools, I often drew the ire of guidance counselors and school leaders by recommending students consider community college for their first stop in higher education. For context, late in my career, I worked as a licensed teacher, but my role as an educational technology specialist found me Read More
Teachers teach. What exactly they should teach, what they actually do teach, and the degree of consensus about what they teach and the degree to which they are doing it are very contentious issues today. Most would agree some of the curriculum belongs in the Most educational practitioners are content if students demonstrate new learning Read More
Educators know there is no possibility that education can be politically neutral. Sure, we generally avoid taking an explicit side in any election—in one’s role as a public school educator, they cannot even advocate for passing the local school budget. All knowledge is, however, useful in either supporting or rejecting a conclusion; all decisions can Read More
Several factors make it impossible for commercial software developers to update operating systems and applications indefinitely. Even open-source operating systems and applications that are developed by communities of programmers rather than businesses are usually retired. When software is retired, the publishers no longer release security updates. At that point, responsible IT professionals will upgrade the Read More
Hackers are individuals or groups who try to gain access to others’ computers. Phishers are individuals and groups who try to trick users into giving them access to a computer system. Both hackers and phishers are generally after either computing capacity or data. In some cases, they want to use our computers for nefarious purposes, Read More