Stop reading this sentence and imagine a school. In your mind, enter a classroom where students and teacher are present, and class is in session. Look around. See the teacher in the room, see the students, and see what they are doing. If you didn’t play along with the preceding sentence, recall a movie or television program in which a classroom, teaching, and learning was portrayed. It doesn’t Read More
Unfortunately for me (and all other educators and those interested in education), humans are variable creatures; cause and effect relationships do not exist in education. We cannot be assured “if I do this, then my students will learn that.” (Those who make their living selling “the next big thing” to educators will be disappointed to Read More
In the 2003 book Creating Significant Learning Experiences, L. Dee Fink described conversations with faculty that were focused by the question, “In your deepest, fondest dreams, what kind of impact would you most like to have on your students?” Faculty answers to this question did not mention remembering information. Faculty’s answers did include what they hoped students would do with their new knowledge, how they would solve problems, how they would interact Read More
The concept of the “blank slate” has been discredited among philosophers, psychologist, and other scientists for several decades, but many educators continue to assume students arrive in classrooms with no relevant experiences and that students need only pay sufficient attention to learn the information teachers tell them. Educators with a more sophisticated understanding of learning Read More
To outsiders looking in, teaching seems a relatively simple endeavor. Even to some insiders who do not step back and try to understand what they are doing, teaching can be perceived to be a simple endeavor. The reality is that teaching should vary depending on the nature of the curriculum, the purpose of the teaching, Read More
A theme I have addressed several times in this blog is the difference between information technology users in schools and technology users in other organizations. In this post, I focus specifically on the characteristics of student user that be unfamiliar to IT managers who learned their craft in businesses and industries. When IT professionals understand Read More
If instructors and school leaders seek to create schools in which practices and structures are aligned with the realities of human learning, then they must work from two hypotheses: First, the students who arrive in schools are experienced learners. Their experiences are affected by their culture, motivation, academic, and personal experiences. Any list of the relevant Read More
I once served on a committee hiring a professional who was primarily going to serve as network administrator. We were in the second interview, so there were fewer questions and more discussions. The candidate asked, “What can you tell me about the environment?” The superintendent who admitted little knowledge of technology began describing efforts they Read More
Education is an endeavor characterized by myths; we believe certain things about the work we do, but those are not based in observation or even reason. When I was an undergraduate student, I believed one could be taught how to teach. After more than 30 years in education, I am almost certain that most of Read More
Technology that is appropriately used meets the needs of those who provide the mission-critical functions of the organization. For the technology to be reliable, robust, and secure, it must be properly configured. Technology is reasonable if is fits into budgetary limits and aligns with the organization’s policies and mission. If the technology fails to meet Read More