Appropriate Proper Reasonable | RSS.com This is a continuation of two posts: Wicked Problems and Transparent Taming of Wicked Problems In reviewing practices that appeared to be most effective in designing solutions to wicked problems, Rittel and Webber (1973) recognized that different people perceive the problem (and its solution) differently, that experts sometimes have a Read More
Category: Leadership
Technology Stewardship
59: Technology Stewards “Communities of practice” (CoP) is a concept developed by Etienne Wenger and Nancy White and their collaborators; the idea has influenced organizational researchers and planners for more than a decade (Wenger 1999). Each CoP is defined by a group of practitioners who share a common field of endeavor and who also share Read More
Transparent Taming of Wicked Problems
In ta previous post, 21st century education was presented as a wicked problem. Whereas tame problems are definable (cause and effect can be clearly identified), understandable (methods for resolving the problem are known or can be known), and consensual (reasonable people will agree on the need to solve it), wicked problems are none of these; Read More
Wicked Problems
88: Understanding Wicked Problems In the 1973 article, “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” Horst Rittel, who was a professor of the science of design at the University of California, Berkeley and Melvin Webber, who was a professor of city planning at the same institution, recognized many problems include a social dimension. While many Read More
Horizontal versus Vertical Reform
Educational reform in the last several decades has been horizontal as schools commonly jump from one initiative to another with little reason. The typical cycle is familiar to many: First, an initiative (supported with little or dubious evidence from the learning sciences) is introduced and implemented (with little or dubious support and rationale). Second, problems Read More
TPCK: A Framework for IT Planning in Schools
Teacher education has traditionally been informed by a framework comprising the content dimension (what is to be taught or the curriculum) and the pedagogy dimension (how it is taught or instruction). Shulman (1987) suggested teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge cannot be developed in isolation, so he proposed “pedagogical content knowledge” (PCK) to describe the Read More
Three Questions about Assessment
45: Three Questions About Assessment These ideas are further supported in Technology in Support of Diverse Assessment which was prepared for the 2017 AECT Annual Conference. “Assessment” has been an important aspect of teaching and learning (or perhaps more accurately, it has been a buzzword garnering much attention) for most of my career in education. Advocates for Read More
The (Overturned) Standard Model of Education
47: The (Overturned) Standard Model of Education Words are powerful tools for human thought; once “something” is named it can be recognized and humans can both communicate about it and interact with the concept in a way they could not previously. When the named thing is not an object, but an action (or collection of Read More
Organizational Frames
48: Organizational Frames Leaders seek to affect change; they identify those parts of the organization that must become more efficient or more effective. Efficient operation means outcomes and goals are met more quickly by consuming fewer resources. More effective operation means the outcomes are more closely aligned with the intended outcomes. Leaders also seek to Read More
The IT We Need: Appropriate, Proper, Reasonable
When we stop to think about the tools we use in teaching, especially the digital tools that we have today, the question “Do these help us achieve our goal?” arises and appears only incompletely answered. One’s answer to the question depends, of course, on what we believe the goal to be. For me, one who Read More