102: Efficacious #edtech 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 Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Teach from Known to New
Teaching can be deconstructed into two types of activities: Those that introduce new ideas, and Those that help ideas become known. In many classrooms, we teaching proceeds from “new to known.” The teacher introduces an idea and explains it to the point that students can begin to practice the idea, work with it, and (we Read More
#Edtech for #Edleaders: Managing Users, Resources, and Data
95: Edtech for #Edleaders: Managing Network Resources Once IT infrastructure has been installed, IT professionals hired by the school adjust the configurations of devices installed by the engineers and technicians so the network is secure, robust and reliable. They configure settings to authenticate users; give them access to servers, printers, and other devices; and adjust Read More
SkillsCommons #OER
Beginning in 2011, the Department of Labor awarded four rounds of grants under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program. This was designed to designed to support community colleges as they developed resources and programs for workforce development purposes. For full disclosure: I was employed under a TAACCCT grant as a Read More
Diversity of Learning Theories
The learning science is a relatively new field of study. The major journals in the field began publishing in the early 1990’s and the first conferences recognizing this field also date to that time. Learning science emerged out of the cognitive sciences as field dedicated to the problem of designing classroom and other learning spaces Read More
LiveCode
In the early 1990’s, I was a fan of HyperCard, the program from Apple that allowed users to create “cards,” each with text, images, and buttons (along with other controls) that could be programmed using an easy to understand scripting language. My students and I wrote scripts to simulate genetics experiments, explore probability, and draw Read More
Experts and “Expertiness” in Education
94: Experts and “Expertiness” in Education In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, an American comedian coined the term “truthiness” to capture an idea that individual or groups held as true although there was little evidence of the truth. That comedian applied this term to political situations and the satire was Read More
Education and the Study of Education
In recent decades, scholars have recognized that education is influenced by diverse factors and those factors exert complex and previously unknown influences. Shasha Barab, a scholar from Indiana University, Bloomington, and Kurt Squire, a scholar from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, reasoned that “learning, cognition, knowing, and context are irreducib[ly] co-constructed and cannot be treated Read More
The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness
105: The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness Last summer, I was attending a conference and the keynote speaker mentioned Todd Rose’s book The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness. I took the step that was not possible when I started my career, Read More
#Edtech for #Edleaders: Whom to Hire: Technology Integration Specialists
99: #Edtech for #Edleaders: Whom to Hire: Technology Integration Specialists For decades, those responsible for organizing and presenting in-service professional development for educators have used a variety of models for providing learning experiences for teachers, and these have been designed to support all aspects of TPCK and to accommodate the needs of individual learners. These Read More