49: Technology Acceptance Model This except is from my book Efficacious Technology Management: A Guide for School Leaders Technology acceptance model was first elucidated to understand the observation “that performance gains are often obstructed by users’ unwillingness to accept and use available systems” (Davis, 1989 p. 319), and it has been used to study decisions Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Educational Design Research: An Emerging Planning Tool
50: Educational Design Research: A Planning Tool for Schools Schools are institutions that leaders seek to improve. They take actions so that operations are more efficient; they take actions so that outcomes are more closely aligned with goals than they currently are. They also take actions so that new goals are achieved. Whether the improvements Read More
What’s Wrong with Coding?
Coding is a hot topic in my media feeds again… each year when the events designed to increase students’ experience writing code, it appears again. I get it, but I am distressed by educators’ (and philanthropists’) fascination with coding. We are looking to closely at the field of design and are missing the far more Read More
Making Files Accessible
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to ensure those who cannot use media (text, audio, and other methods of communicating) have access to the information they need in a format they need. (Of course there are many aspects of life affected by the ADA, but this post focuses on digital media.) Teachers are Read More
The Lens of Cognitive Load
Appropriate Proper Reasonable This idea is also the subject of the post Cognitive Load Theory Educators avoid theory whenever they can, and that is an unfortunate stance as a good theory is very useful when we want to understand what we do and why we do it. Cognitive load theory is an excellent example of Read More
The Realities of the Digital World
A review of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen by Dr. Gary L. Ackerman
IT Users in Schools
Educators import technology expertise from other industries—the individuals who manage your school network and repair malfunctioning computers probably learned their craft in a field other than education. What they learned about keeping devices functioning and providing you with robust and reliable service can be transferred from business or industry into schools. There is an important Read More
The IT We Need: Appropriate, Proper, Reasonable
When we stop to think about the tools we use in teaching, especially the digital tools that we have today, the question “Do these help us achieve our goal?” arises and appears only incompletely answered. One’s answer to the question depends, of course, on what we believe the goal to be. For me, one who Read More
Educational Adjectives
Perhaps it is the many advertisements that have found there way through my spam filter recently. Perhaps it is that I have been reading (actually browsing) equal amounts of vendor-created content in trade magazines and peer-reviewed book chapters and articles from academic authors. Regardless of the origins, it is coming clear to me that there Read More
Observations of Narcissist Educators
35: Narcissistic Educators The label “narcissist” has become relevant in the United States in recent weeks and months. I will avoid comment on current events, but I will observe the concept is useful in understanding the actions of some educators. For the professional psychologist familiar with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a Read More