Among the studies summarized by Gary Small, a cognitive scientist who works at the University of California Los Angeles, and his coauthor Gigi Vorgan in the 2008 book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Modification of the Modern Mind, were several documenting the effects of technologies on human brains. They described research in which scientists measured a Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Misbehavior, Unethical Behavior, and Grades
I observed an interesting conversation recently. A teacher had observed a student cheating during an assessment. She brought it to the attention of a school administrator as she had contacted the student’s parents (which she is expected to do in this situation). The conversation quickly turned to the consequences. The teacher intended to not allow Read More
Knowledge Building
Scarmelia and Bereiter (2006) contrasted 20th century instruction that as supported by ICT (in which ICT was assumed to be equivalent to print-based information) to knowledge building. For Scarmelia and Bereiter, ICT can support knowledge building as a social endeavor in which ideas are improved, and the community comes to more clear understanding of ideas Read More
Deeper Learning Principles
122: Deeper Learning Principles More than 15 years ago, Collen Carmean and Jeremy Haefner (2002), scholars from the western United States, suggested that curriculum and instruction in the 21st century will be characterized by five properties that they refer to as deeper learning principles that appear to be associated with students who more clearly understand Read More
Wireless Mobile Devices
Larry Rosen (2010), a psychologist from California State University, Dominguez Hills, applied the acronym WMD to describe wireless mobile devices which he observed have become the ICT device of choice for the first digital generation, and that choice was driven by the social interactions available via the devices. With these devices individuals are always connected Read More
Teachers’ Inability to Deal with Ambiguity
121: Teachers’ Inability to Deal with Ambiguity We all understand the need for rules. If some us decided to drive on the left side of the road while others choose the right side, roads would be very dangerous. The consequences for violating that traffic rule can vary. You may be stopped by a police officer Read More
The New Digital Divide
For some decades, I advocated for “technology-rich” schools. My work was supporting IT infrastructure and teaching teachers to use technology. At the time, we were all concerned with the “digital divide,” the fact that schools in affluent communities had plenty of devices and connections compared to the scant digital resources in schools located in poor Read More
Bridging Gaps: Research and Instruction
115: Bridging Gaps: Research and Instruction Education is one of several soft technologies that share an interesting trait: The scholars who discover the science behind the natural phenomena that are the basis of the technology and the practitioners who apply that science to the human purpose are different people. Other examples of human technologies marked Read More
Red Herrings
120: Red Herrings “Continuous improvement” has been a “thing” for much longer than it has been a “thing.” Leaders and workers, including school leaders and teachers, have spent generations trying to make the systems they use for economic, political, and cultural purposes more efficient and more effective. Today, I spend time with school leaders who Read More
What Would Happen If…?
113: What Would Happen If…? The question “what would happen if…?” has focused human inquiry since our species evolved. Those of with a curiosity and the desire to satisfy our curiosity with answers that accurately reflect nature turn to science. Science is based on inquiry that is grounded in observation that is controlled so we Read More