I posted on social media recently: Can educators devise assessments that can predict how students will develop rather than what they did? I was pushed to explain myself and that got me thinking what exactly I meant. So, here goes! We all know the culture of assessment in education. We are charged with documenting what Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Computers Arrive in Schools
In the 1970’s computers entered the consumer market, and hobbyists began purchasing computers. By 1981, personal computers could be purchased for less than $1000, and amateur enthusiasts (including children) were writing their own programs to satisfy their own interests and curiosities, but consumer computers were still marginalized and largely a hobby. Joseph Deken, a statistician Read More
On Computer Mediated Communication in Schools
The events I recorded in the papers I wrote as an undergraduate student and in my journal kept during my first few years working as a teacher and the few surviving lesson plans and resource folders from my pre-Internet years (recall that I entered the teaching profession using an Apple IIc computer in 1988), all Read More
On IT Roles in Schools
In schools today, most professionals who work with technology typically fall into one of six groups. The descriptions of the duties assigned to these individuals illustrate the range of tasks necessary to manage and use the very complex information technology infrastructure encountered in a typical school and the scale of the system that requires support: Read More
Cognitive Load Theory: Brief Definition
Cognitive load theorists recognize three types of cognitive load: Intrinsic cognitive load is associated with the learner thinking about the information and the task. Intrinsic load does increase as the task becomes more complex, but steps to break the task down into parts and the use graphic organizers (for example) to help store and organize Read More
On School Planning
In general, one can surmise there is consensus regarding the role of formal educational systems: the public supports and maintains the system to prepare youngsters to participate in the economic, political, and cultural life of society. The nature of the experiences designed to meet this purpose changes over time. Traditionally, the domain of education includes Read More
An Old Adage Revisited
“Those who can do. Those who can’t teach.” We have all seen this quote and observed (accurately) that it doesn’t show the great wit that many who toss it around think. Poems have been written about it; keynote speeches have been given about it. Books and articles have been written about it. We all despise Read More
Some Technology Decisions are Permanent in Schools
Early in the history of computers in schools, they typically purchased and supported only one operating system. Schools were “Apple” schools or “IBM” schools; later they were Macintosh or Windows schools. Ostensibly, decisions were made for financial reasons (PC’s were generally assumed to be less expensive than Macintoshes) or for educational reasons (“PC’s are what Read More
Elevator Pitch: Teaching is Political
Because education and schools are technologies, they are not neutral. What happens in school is politically relevant, it matters to humans. This may seem a silly statement, but frequently, adults in schools proceed with their work and appear to be ignorant of this. The effect is especially observed in those classrooms in which the goal Read More
Efficacious Decisions…
… allow us to conclude: