Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

“The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

Data is fine... actually it isn't when it is valued more than understanding... which it usually is

Artificial intelligence doesn't worry me as much as natural stupidity.

If you are unwilling to change your mind when the evidence changes, then science is not for you

“We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

I know a book is a good (really good) if I read a physical copy after reading the audio version or if I read the audio version after reading the physical version.

When I led youth activities my mantra was "end before they are sick of it." I think the Olympics need to take my advice.

Quantities like standard deviation make sense and help folks understand both the sample and the meaning for a case if it is taught conceptually. When we focus on computing it, folks lose all understanding.

Demoralized, bored, distracted students. Let’s quit bitching and start fixing.

One thing I learned during my 35 year teaching: great lectures are great, but most lecturers are terrible.

“Can we create a computer that does what teachers do?”

It depends on what the teacher does.

“X should not be taught before college” (whatever topic is x and whatever level you choose) is likely to be preached by someone who doesn’t know the topic or the students… at least that’s what I observed over 40 years.

Clocks seem simple and harmless, but they control much that humans do.

“Humans are blind to the truth.” Some sure are.

How many AI authors observe “AI will be the tutor of the future” on one page and “ teachers won’t go away on the next?” I’ve noticed it in several books.

Too much data inhibits good decision making.

Reading book on technology from 30 years ago, and the author pokes fun at the suggestion that “meetings will take place over video connections.”

Maybe we reject “data-driven” decisions in favor of good decisions.

No IT professional wants users of their systems to be ineffective and complaining. They need to listen to those complaints to make them go away, however.

For those making IT decisions for teaching and learning in schools, the unpredictable nature of classrooms with students, teachers, and varying curriculum can contradict what they know about planning, testing, and deploying technology systems.