With the rise of writing, and then print, Walter Ong noted that communication became a process in which, “The mind interacts with the material world around it more profoundly and creatively than has hitherto been thought” (Ong, 1982, p. 172). Reference Ong, W. J. (1991). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London ; New Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Thinking About Basics Skills and Higher Order Thinking (Again)
I’ve written about this in the past on the blog, but the topic has come back into my professional thinking, so I’ve capturing it again. In 2008, I have a stroke and spent the summer learning to walk again. For the 20 years of my career in education until then, I had rejected the “back Read More
Electronic Portfolios: The Role of the Creator
At several time over the last 20 years, I have helped schools create electronic portfolio projects– I wish these had been more sustained, but I’ve found there is a vast disconnect between what educators think they will be and what they really are. I discovered this summary of eportolfios that I prepared for a specific Read More
In Brief… What I’ve Learned after 50 Years in Schools
I first entered school as a student a few months before my fifth birthday. Over the next years, I had an inconsistent relationship with school. Sometimes I hated it, sometimes I enjoyed it. As a teenager, I decided I wanted to become a teacher. My career in education is well into its fourth decade. Over Read More
These Things I’ve Come to Know… About Learning
I decided to become an educator in 1980 or 1981. That means I’ve been paying attention (close attention) to learning for over 40 years, but I’m not sure I really understand it any better now than when I started. I have a much more sophisticate concept of learning, but damned if I can define it. Read More
Some Assumptions about Educators
I assume educators are new to the work of teaching and learning. This has little to do with the length of readers’ curriculum vitae or the years spent in front of students. I can state with confidence the best teachers approach new students, new curriculum, new strategies, and new colleagues as a and opportunity to Read More
Reflections on Online Higher Education
Educators who surf the World Wide Web frequently encounter advertisements for online universities. The sales pitches are enticing for busy adults who seek a graduate degree; “learn on your own schedule,” “save costs,” finish quickly through accelerated schedules.” The advertisements come from diverse providers, including for-profit universities which have been in the news for unflattering Read More
On Human Cognition
After more than 30 years in education, I have become convinced that the systems we have created are grounded in an incorrect assumption of what constitutes human thinking. As educators, our goal is to increase and enhances students’ cognitive abilities. When they leave our classrooms, they should be able to observe more and more sophisticated Read More
A People’s History of Computing in the United States — Joy Lisi Rankin
Does Silicon Valley deserve all the credit for digital creativity and social media? Joy Rankin questions this triumphalism by revisiting a pre-PC time when schools were not the last stop for mature consumer technologies but flourishing sites of innovative collaboration — when users taught computers and visionaries dreamed of networked access for all. Source: A Read More
Thoughts on A People’ History of Computing in the Uniter States
My afternoon walks have found Joy Lisi Rankin’s A People’s History of Computing in the United States playing through my ear buds. It was an interesting and thought-provoking listen. (I’m facing the challenge of blogging about it without being able to return to the pages.) The work is presented to challenge the narrative that computing Read More