Historians of technology recognize the collection of human technologies includes both hard technologies and soft technologies. Hard technologies include the artifacts—from stone axes to automobiles to computers—that humans have built and that can be held and manipulated. Soft technologies include those practices—from language to banking to computer software—that function as technologies but that cannot actually Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
The Paradox of Knowledge
We all know “things.” What it means to “know” and “things” are all open to debate, but let’s ignore those debates for a moment, and recognize that some people know more than others about topics. Gary has a degree in technology and spends much time using, thinking about, and troubleshooting and repairing technology systems. Compared Read More
Decision-making and Facts
Research depends on “facts.” In the vernacular, fact typically means information that is true and accurate; implicit also is the assumption that the fact is objectively defined so that every observer will agree on the both reality of the fact and the meaning of the fact. A more sophisticated view of facts recognizes the role Read More
Is Your Data Similar to Research?
“Data driven” or “evidence driven” (as they like to call themselves now) educators and leaders have always sought to co-opt the authority of research. It seems, however, that these leaders and educators lack a consistent and sophisticated understanding of research, and this leads them to use suspect data to support dubious conclusions. A few years Read More
Another Reflection on Leaving Teaching
I recently discovered this draft of a piece I wrote about five years ago. It is still relevant and explains my recent decision to leave teaching. “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” Those words begin the second paragraph of Edgar Read More
What Leaders say about Iterative Design
I recently worked with some education leaders to design some educational technology projects that were organized around educational design research. Some of their reflections after we finished give us insight into the workflow of leaders. Rachel (one of the leaders) made observations of the differences between the planning that was commonly expected to be followed Read More
On the Value of Theories
While analyzing some interview data in the last year or so, my colleague and I discovered our coding was remarkably consistent with Roger’s (2003) theory of the diffusion of innovations. For me, this illustrated exactly why we spend time and energy conducting research, consuming research, and returning to the research when we are unsure of Read More
#edtech for #edleaders: Some IT Network Vocabulary
The adjectives “robust” and “reliable” are used to describe IT networks. Robust describes the capacity of the network to connect users and provided them with the network information each request in a timely manner. A robust network will allow many users in a classroom to connect with little delay, and there will be little latency Read More
It Really is Different Now: A Teacher’s Story of Leaving
In 1981, I was a sophomore in high school, and I decided to be a teacher. In 1988, I was in front of middle school classroom filled with science students. I still have the observations in which my department head and principal attested to the quality of my interactions with students. My wife still reminds Read More
Emerging Digital Literacy
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