Literacy is a term with strong resonance for many educators. Those who enter education with an interest in literacy recognize the importance of reading for all learners and all citizens in society. The work is perhaps the most important in the school. Educators do recognize, however, that digital literacy is a skill that is increasingly Read More
Category: Technology
Shared Computing Resources in Schools
While computer rooms have largely fallen out of favor in schools (they were perceived to the removing computing from the classroom where most learning occurs), they continue to be maintained on many schools. As more diverse computing devices have emerged, computer rooms have become more important for providing capacity for specialized purposes that require sophisticated Read More
Interaction in Virtual Classrooms
In my work with teachers as they begin teaching in virtual spaces, a common reaction from those whose first experiences were disappointing is “they just post silly stuff,” and they contend that students do not engage in academic discussions when online. When pressed to define silly stuff, they suggest using text abbreviations, deviating from the Read More
Humans as Social and Technology-Using Creatures
There can be little question that characteristics of our brains differentiate humans from other creatures. Increasingly, cognitive scientists recognize our brains are designed for the social interactions that have allowed humans to cooperate, and this cooperation has enabled our species to avoid extinction. Cognitive and developmental psychologist Michael Tomasello (2014) described the importance of social Read More
The Challenge of Effective #edtech Leadership
The leaders of almost every school face the same challenging situation: They must create schools that reflect the dominant role of digital IT in society and they must prepare students for that world; but the changing landscape of teaching, inadequate technical expertise, and limited resources are genuine barriers to this work. What we know, how Read More
Why Educational Design Research
A previous post described educational design research, a method for designing and understanding interventions: Educational Design Research: An Emerging Planning Tool In this post, I continue developing the rationale for using this method. Compared to other planning methods and other methods of gathering data and evidence, educational design research may be perceived as necessitating greater Read More
Barriers to #edtech Efficacy
If information technology is to be used to realize the strategic goal of allowing students to fully participate in the digital world, then it must be appropriately used, properly configured, and reasonably supported. Deficiencies in any of these aspects of technology management are a serious threat to the overall efficacy of the IT managers. To Read More
IT and Control
Early in the history of electronic digital computing, computers were large devices that filled rooms. During this phase of their evolution, the calculation to be performed by the computer was hard-wired into the circuits. Changing the calculation required technicians to physically reconfigure the circuits following the direction of the computer engineers. Lohr (2001) observed the Read More
Technology and Society
In his 1996 book The Rise of the Network Society, Manuel Castells, a sociology professor at the University of California Berkeley who has held positions around the world, observed the late 20th century was marked by drastic changes in patterns of commerce and government that challenged long-established social norms around the world. Because of these Read More
Decreasing Distractions
I wrote this piece for another audience a couple of years back… it still seems quite relevant given the observation I made this year in middle schools. It was with horror that I walked up and down the boardwalk of the mid-Atlantic beach I visited for the first time with my family this summer. Every Read More