When designing systems to move useful bits to people in most business settings, IT professionals can make certain assumptions about the abilities of the people who will be interacting with the systems. It is also probable that those people will have clear and well-bounded needs; workers in specific offices need the software and data to Read More
Category: Edtech for IT
edtech for IT: Elevator Pitch on Users in Schools
Assumptions about the users’ capacity to operate the devices, adapt to changes, and operate the systems effectively all affect how systems are designed. For those who have experience managing IT in organizations where all the users are adults and those who have completed typical IT programs in schools (including trade schools, community colleges, and universities) Read More
edtech for IT: Creative Commons
Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Harvard, founded the Creative Commons in 2001. This non-profit organization supports authors who apply Creative Commons licenses to the works they create. While materials published under any Creative Commons license (as of 2022 there are seven different licenses) are available at no cost, they are still copyrighted, but—depending on Read More
edtech for IT: What They Teach- Coding
Coding, of course, refers to teaching students how to program. Coding can be it’s own subject in school (such as high schools participating the Advanced Placement Computer Science courses), it can be incorporated into other lessons (such as middle school math students coding with Scratch in mathematics courses), or it can be the focus of Read More
My Response to ChatPGT
Some colleagues in IT departments and I had a chat about ChatGPT and similar tools yesterday. It was interesting to get the perspective of those who work primarily in IT rather than in education. As our chat ended, we were considering how to respond to calls to block access on our institutional networks. Here is Read More
#edtech for #IT: On Instructional Technology
Of the digital information technology available in schools a part is used by teachers and learners for their interactions; this is the technology I define as instructional technology. The technology that falls into this category must be affordable, usable, and operational and used to engage learners. Affordable. Traditionally, schools have small budgets for technology, and Read More
edtech for IT: Appropriate, Proper, Reasonable
No IT professional wants users of their systems to be ineffective and complaining. This poses a difficulty for IT professionals who move from business in to education. IT professionals will notice differences (some nuanced and some significant) between the needs and expectations of IT users in business and IT in school. With the more complete Read More
edtech for IT: Acceptable Use Policies
All organizations have acceptable use policies which that define what users are allowed to do with devices and systems owned by the organization. These policies are approved by organization’s governing bodies (school board are generally responsible for adopting policy) and are intended to protect the organization and the systems they support. In general, the role Read More
edtech for IT: User Devices in Schools
Since the first desktop computers arrived in schools decades ago, several generations of computers have been installed in schools, and they reflect the changes we have seen in consumer computers. It is probably more accurate to use the term devices to describe the hardware users use to interact with information and other users. The original Read More
edtech for IT: Accessibility
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in the United States. This civil rights law is intended to ensure all individuals have access to public resources regardless of their disability status. For educators, this means the materials they use in class (such as textbooks) must be available to all. For example, Braille or Read More