182: When Computers Started School Historians of technology trace the beginnings of computers from the analytic machine of Charles Babbage in the 19th century. The history of electronic digital computing is usually measured from the creation of Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the computer built to handle the massive computations necessary for military applications Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Humans and Computers
My social media feeds have been filled with many stories about “the next big thing” in technology and education. I suppose we expect such lists to be popular at important (and arbitrary) transitions like the end of one decade and the beginning of next. (For me, I am a few short weeks from working as Read More
Perspectives on Planning
The potential for dysfunction within the teams charged with technology planning is great, however. Educators and technologists participate in planning and decision-making processes within their specific domains, but those activities are very different within each group. Technologists have recognized and commonly understood guidelines and standards within which they work and design, and most problems can Read More
My Elevator Pitch on Twitter for Educators
Twitter is a method of quickly publishing text, pictures, and video to the Internet. Many educators avoid using Twitter and other social media because of high-profile embarrassments that are reported on a regular basis. Those embarrassments are largely the result of the ease with which one can post information to the Internet. It takes only Read More
My Elevator Pitch on “good #edtech”
So, we want our schools to be technology-rich places. That means we need to make sure there is mutual support for: Networks to be are properly planned; Devices to be properly installed and configured; Management is reasonable according to what we can afford and how we do business; Problems are resolved in a timely manner; Read More
Still Thinking About Deeper Learning
This post continues the theme that has appeared previously in my blog… see the embedded posts at the bottom on the page. Behaviorism is only one concepts of how learning occurs, and many cognitive and learning scientists concur it does not accurately explain and predict most of what happens in schools and classrooms. Cognitive psychology Read More
A Short Rant on #edtech
My experiences have convinced me that computer-mediated communication is fundamental to life in the 21st century; humans adopt (with increasing rapidity) the information technologies in their environment and humans adapt their communication habits to the tools. Humans also exapt technology; they find new and unintended uses for technologies. In biology exaptations are those structures and Read More
An Observation of #Teachers
Teachers complain. They complain a lot. No, really. You can’t imagine the things teachers say about students, colleagues, administrators, parents, and everyone else. After more than three decades of hearing it, I may nod, but it is like white noise to me; with one exception. When I hear, “I taught it, but they didn’t learn Read More
What Makes Us Human?
This question was posed to me by one asking with a sarcastic tone. Here is my response: Human beings are social creatures; it is through working together that we have met our survival needs from our first days on the African savannah to the busy life in the 21st century city. We share information about Read More
Can You? Really?
I have started and restarted and restarted my third book several times… It finally is becoming clear what I want to say. I happened to be telling a former colleague about it, including the theme of “deeper learning” and how we teach for deeper learning. She expressed some interest and suggested that elements of my Read More