When I first started in education, computers were a marginal tool. Literally, they were in a back corner of the classroom and used for special purposes. Over time, they became more central to the curriculum and in the teaching spaces. The question that has interested me recently is “Who is responsible for teaching students how Read More
Category: Technology
Natural Learning in Video Games
Caine and Caine (2011) reviewed explored the cognitive engagement that has been designed into video games. They find “popular technology engages children and adults using challenging scenarios, exciting and relevant social issues, collaboration, ownership, relevant engagement, competition, and action” (p. 8); they find these features contribute to a situation in which natural learning occurs. Natural Read More
Warm Closure of IT Repairs
This post continues the theme developed in Cold Closure in #edtech Repairs and Another Take on Cold Closure in #edtech Repairs In the return to in-person teaching, we have discovered that IT systems have degraded. We can’t be surprised by this. IT professional have been overwhelmed with the “to do” list. Until systems are restored Read More
Elevator Pitch on IT Mission Creep
“Mission creep” is a familiar concept. An organization undertakes a project with an intended outcome defined–it is the value that will accrue as the project becomes complete. Over time, the project expands to include more and more outcomes. Before leaders stop to realize it, the original mission has become something far different. In schools, computers Read More
What Papert Said About Technology in Schools
I found this when cleaning up files… in the thesis for my master of arts degree. He wrote it in 1980. I wrote my thesis in 2000. It still appears to be an accurate assessment of our situation. Twenty years ago, Papert perceived education to be on the verge of a technologydriven revolution that sounds Read More
Don’t be this Principal
I’ve been cleaning out my Google Drive account along with some other older files. I’m trying to reduce both the physical and digital clutter in my places and spaces. Here is an interesting story rescued from that clutter: We have a new fleet of largely dysfunctional computers. Two months ago, the principal invited me to Read More
Problems for Computers
Computers are excellent at solving problems… that is as long as the problem can be reduced to an algorithm (artificial intelligence researchers are working to change this, but most folks who use computers solve such reduced problems with them). Reduction to an algorithm requires rules to be clearly and completely defined. If the problem reflects Read More
Program or Be Programmed
I was recently cleaning out some digital files, and found some materials I had developed for secondary students focusing on Douglas Rushkoff’s 2011 book Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. The work arrived on bookstore shelves a decade ago, but the rules for digital life seem as relevant today as back Read More
Reflecting on Pandemic Teaching
While I am a distance learning professional and I spend most of my time working at a computer and encouraging educators to use computers, I am an educator before I am a technologist. Teaching decisions must be made to benefit students. For much of my career, it has been easy for many individual educators to reject all technology-based and distance learning options categorically. They were justified in reasoning they could Read More
On Echo Chambers
A friend and I were recently discussing John Perry Barlow’s “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.” Barlow’s ideas resonate with both of us. We were wondering if we (as a culture) had achieved what Barlow had envisioned. We challenged ourselves to compose a brief summary of what we have observed in the last few years. Read More