To minimize the threats of incomplete or inaccurate understanding of the work done by others, effective IT decision-making in schools requires the collaboration of individuals who approach them from very different perspectives, and it is unusual to find single individuals who have expertise in more than one of these perspectives. When designing and redesigning IT Read More
Category: Leadership
Ethics are Active
Stephanie Moore and Heather Tillberg-Webb’s Ethics and Educational Technology: Reflection, Interrogation, and Design as a Framework for Practice by Stephanie L. Moore and Heather K. Tillberg-Webb (9780415895088) continues to deliver on the promise summarized on the cover. Ethics, we have seen, should be approached from a design perspective. As designers, we are encouraged to be Read More
School Users of IT
Compared to IT users in business, school populations are different. They bring different skills to the IT they use, they need more flexibility more often than business users, and their needs change over time (only to return to the original need). These characteristics arise from the facts that students have emerging literacies; it is not Read More
How We Handle Ethics in #edtech
Ethics and Educational Technology: Reflection, Interrogation, and Design as a Framework for Practice by Stephanie L. Moore and Heather K. Tillberg-Webb (9780415895088) could not have arrived as a more propitious time. For six months, we in education (k-12, community college, university, professional, and all other settings) have been dealing with ChatGPT and other generative AI. Read More
On Teachers’ Technology Knowledge
Technological knowledge refers to one’s ability to use digital tools. Over time, the tools that provide educational relevant capacity have expanded. Today, we include: Exactly which tools one uses depends on personal preferences, those used in one’s profession, and those provided by the school where one teaches. We can differentiate two types of technological Read More
On Systems
All of the systems have common elements. By looking for these characteristics, and using these characteristics when studying the systems of interest, technologists, scientists, and engineers can more quickly solve problems and design solutions. Order. All systems are recognized by some sort of order, parts and boundaries can be recognized and measured. Order also gives Read More
On Using Data
We hear lots of folks talking about how data-driven they are today, but it seems these folks are often woefully unaware of the fundamental principles of data collection, analysis and presentation. Specific principles I see missing in “data-driven” folks are: If we are to claim to be data-driven in our decisions, then we are responsible Read More
IT Audits in Schools
Organizations invest significant time, energy, and money in information technology systems, and leaders hire skilled information technology professionals to ensure the IT contributes to the success of the organization. Despite the investment and the level of expertise IT professionals bring to their work, many conclude the IT installed and its management is less than satisfactory. Read More
On Educational Technology Rather the IT in Schools
In 1993, Seymour Papert imagined two time-traveling professionals from 100 years earlier; he speculated the physician would be flummoxed by the activity and the technology in the 20th century clinic, but the teacher would find the activity and the technology in a 20th century classroom very familiar. Papert based his speculations on the degree to Read More
On Data Collection for edtech Decisions
Regardless of the type of data collected, researchers and efficacious IT managers must attend to sampling (how will subjects be selected) and they must ensure the instruments they are using are both valid (measuring what they claim to be measuring) and sufficiently precise for the purposes. In addition, IT managers have a responsibility to gather Read More