In the months since “remote” teaching became a “thing,” the tension between educators and technology professionals seems to have become more obvious. I believe this arises in port form the fact that many who were successfully avoiding technology in their teaching no longer have that option. This hassled me to revisit the “technology planning cycle” Read More
I am attempting to refresh the thread in which I give my (clearly cynical) interpretations of terms and phrases I have heard form leaders over the decades. This phrase is tossed around with abandon by many leaders and educators. Ostensibly, it is used to communicate the idea that the speaker is open to ideas and Read More
I decided my “first choice” college was not good fit for me within a few days of arriving on campus. I had some goals while I was there, and I got a “D” in chemistry my first semester, so I arrived back there for the spring semester so that I could improve my second semester Read More
One lesson that has arisen from the spring of 2020 for educational technology professionals and the faculty and staff whose work gives ours purpose is (ostensibly) improved by ours is that no one individual has all of the expertise that is necessary for effective online or remote teaching and learning. While few will be surprised Read More
This is an excerpt from some work I did recently in which I described school leaders whose adoption of technology planning appeared to reflect Rogers’ (2003) stages of adoption of innovations. Our school had been struggling with some aspects of our educational technology. Both our teachers and our technology people were trying, but we seemed Read More
Schools can only be understood as multifaceted organizations, and the decisions that are made and the actions that are taken within them and the conclusions we draw about them only make sense if we are clear about how we are defining schools at the moment. Consider this incomplete list: Schools are political organizations. Public schools Read More
I’ve been fascinated by leadership for my whole life. The characteristics of leaders… how they react in different situations, especially when challenged… how they handle direction from others… how they frame their own contradictions of themselves… these are all interesting. They also tell me much about the direction of the organization, it’s potential for success, and the degree to which I Read More
I’ve been reading some of Robin Dunbar’s work recently, specifically Dunbar’s number. According to this idea, humans are capable of having meaningful interaction with about 150 people. In my recent readings, it seems “other” personified entities (such as God or our pets) can be included in our counts. Dunbar suggests the number is actually one Read More
Computers break; they break frequently. Timely repairs of IT systems are essential in schools. For much of the history of computers in schools, the “timeliness” of repairs was ill-defined and not critical. The strategic goal of schools is ostensibly to “help students learn to consume and create information.” When most information was created and consumed Read More
School and technology planners must answer three questions: “What are we doing?” “Why are we doing it?” and “How shall we do it?” Planners typically address those questions in the order written. The “what” question has greatest urgency as it determines the actions that will be taken by technicians and teachers, thus the experiences of Read More