My children’s middle school science teacher had a closet full of lab supplies she never used. I asked her about it once. Her straight response was, “If I use them, then I won’t have them anymore.” I talked to the principal... he knew her answer already.
Posts by Dr. Gary Ackerman
If your data seems to contradict your business model, it might be wrong... the business model that is.
Sometimes your data confirms your suspicions, sometimes it contradicts your suspicions. How you react determines the quality of your decisions.
A blog post on why corporate IT strategies often fail in schools, now with audio:
www.hackscience.education/an-observati...
A brief story about enterprise IT and educators' lack of understanding of it.
www.hackscience.education/a-story-abou...
I read the business reports that say employers find graduates lack the skills they need (I question that)... then I read the education reports that we need to focus on the opposite of what employers claim they can’t hire.
That problem you just solved... some did not think it was a problem... others see your solution as a worse problem... others think you were distracted by it while other problems rage.
I’ve decided I’m too old to work in organizations where there the leaders don’t “walk their talk.”
There is something distressing about leaders who do not recognize the expertise within their organizations.
My brother in law’s WiFi is named “FBI spy van” and he does have a van that is parked in his driveway intermittently. I asked if he changes the name of it when the van isn’t parked there. He doesn’t rename it, but he does stop it from broadcasting. Yes, he is a funny man.
I propose any course with publisher-supplied homework, video, quizzes, etc. can have unlimited enrollment, and the instructor be paid whatever the rate is for being a substitute at the local public school.
You might not be able to fathom taking a course on in a phone, but your students are! Make it mobile-friendly!
Hey leaders... you can’t both say collaborative leadership is the only way we succeed, then make decisions that ignore those whose input you claim to value... well you can, but then no one trusts you.
As I look back on my career, I see the root cause of me leaving a position is that I loose trust in leadership when their actions don’t meet their words.
I asked AI to review some writing--specifically looking for advice on grammar and spelling. It complimented by on capitalizing proper names. Thanks. I guess.
I’m really loosing my patience for hypocrisy as I get older.
Saying, "I'm aware of the time," then continuing the meeting is not a good leadership style.
“Because it is free” is rarely a good reason to make a technology decision... the value of open source is grounded in other characteristics... the cost of “free” is rarely recognized.
Hey teachers and educators... don’t say “I’m not a tech/ math/ whatever” person. Students are listening... and so are people who really value those fields. You demonstrate you lack the capacity to learn (and judge situations) that we must model.
“One dimensional quantification” of complex phenomena is a temptation the wisest among us resist
What if optimal decisions don’t exist?
Abstract has a 50 word limit. My first draft is in at 49... the first draft is the final draft. That’s my win for today.
“Materials are core participants in educational practice” seems a correct, but often unrecognized, reality.
Our collective rejection of science is very distressing.
I’m convinced deliverables—the things that will exist when we are done—are more important than goals in focusing work.
I’ve been reading some of the business and leadership literature... not academic literature, but the stuff written for practitioners... I’ve concluded it is even more vacuous than that written for practicing educators.
Yeah, don’t try to tell me “it’s for science,” when it isn’t. I can tell the difference.
Is integration contrary to innovation?
MOOC’s are not a substitute for classes... they never really were... you comparisons and dismissal of them demonstrates you miss the point.