Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Online. Face-to-face. Hybrid. None of this matters. Students interacting with a rich curriculum and their peers and teachers (who act like mentors) are the essential features of effective classrooms.

OK. It is official. “Data” has no meaning. Leaders use it when they have seriously researched (valid/ reliable/ evaluated) data, glanced at invalid text results, read some of the research, or must deflect. It is used so inconsistently, I no longer trust those who use it.

Looking back at my career in education, I realize most of the school improvement initiatives that were foisted on us were based on someone’s misguided and privileged and profitable babble.

I’m convince email is ineffective. Too many messages to sort through, even when using the tools to help cull.

“Online teaching does not lend itself to lecture....” I cannot think of a more obvious phrase to begin a sentence.

Progressive education values adaptability over rote mastery. Dewey teaches us to see uncertainty not as a threat, but as a stimulus for growth.

The history of science is marked by trial and error, reformulation, and rediscovery. This process affirms science as a dynamic, self-correcting human enterprise. I'm not sure the "do your own research" have such a history in their practice.

Data can guide—but it cannot lead. Wisdom, empathy, and historical insight are not reducible to spreadsheets.

Data doesn’t speak—it must be framed. Every chart implies a worldview, and every KPI reflects organizational values.

If you are still relying on a protocol after all this time, you probably don’t understand what it was supposed introduce into your teaching.

Why is it that some leaders are so reluctant to accept root causes when analyzing disasters?

Knowledge gained through science is provisional, not permanent. This humility—embedded in its methodology—is a tribute to our capacity for revision and reflection.

Going to change some settings in a Moodle classroom... I notice the instructor uses an #OER textbook... they just got a free pass to the top of my priority list.

Abstract knowledge divorced from use is inert. Dewey challenges us to integrate theory with practice—bridging subject domains through lived relevance. #CurriculumDesign

Efficacious IT management is also made more difficult by the disparate approaches to problems solved by technology professionals, teachers, and school administrators.

What were “political issues” when I was a young man and now properly understood as public health issues.

Yeah... lecturing online is a terrible model for remote teaching. We have know that for a long long time... if you insist on it... I must question your... Hmmm... how to finish this with tact?

Scientific methods are not mechanical—they are philosophical. Science rests on skepticism, dialogue, and trust in empirical observation shaped by human judgment. #ScientificReasoning

Progressive educators reject the passive absorption of facts. We honor the learner’s capacity for inquiry, experimentation, and democratic engagement. #education #teaching #schools

Security and usability are inversely related.