Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

May all writers have the time to write a shorter book : )

Maybe we can get Microsoft to change the default "alt text" for images... I suggest "The author was too lazy to change this." Maybe that would shame us into making files accessible.

So, I had a goal of getting my current draft of my introduction and chapter 1 to 10,000 words by the end of the day... had only 30 word to go. Significant rewrite of one section... “alright, here we go,” I thought. Select the chapters... word count is still 9970. Seriously?

If your trendy new pedagogy does not shift away from teacher-dominated delivery of content, it is just a flashy way to fail. #teaching

When you realize #education is designed to force your to challenge your beliefs rather than confirm your beliefs, you are finally getting the point.

It may seem unnecessary to state it, but schools are places where children are present. Lots of children. Children who reflect the social, racial, ethnic, and other characteristics of the local population.

Lysenko's influence led to the suppression and imprisonment of many geneticists who opposed his views, including the renowned botanist Nikolai Vavilov. Just in case any one cares.

A post for students studying databases:
https://hackscience.education/2025/06/09/data-information-and-databases/

I’m try to decrease the number of autocorrect and other typos that are making it into my posts. It looks like this will be a serious time commitment.

Thinking and learning is an emotion and cultural and cognitive endeavor... teachers who focus on one aspect to the exclusion of the others will fail. #education #teaching #teachertips

I’ve seen an increase in “blame the user” among IT in recent years... it is synchronous with “blame the IT” among users.

When AI and technology help me find “that paper I read ‘a while ago’ that seemed to support my point in the paragraph that was opposite the graph that showed something, and I think it was near the bottom of the page,” but with fewer details, I will be happy.

If doing qualitative research has taught me anything it is that perceptions are reality.

You know those educators who advocate a single method for all purposes... they annoy me. #education

Never underestimate the value of a critic.

Skeptics are leaders’ most valued assets... they point out weaknesses... laggards and the “this is they way we have always done it crowd” are not skeptics. #leadership

Uncertainty, ambiguity, complexity... yup let’s keep those because that’s where reality exists. Volatility, we can do without.

I used to teach #highschool students how to write essay answers on exams. “They have little time to grade ‘em, make it easy to read and find what they are looking for” was my rationale... and I taught them a formula “which is *terrible* writing, but effective in this case.

If you believe one method of #teaching can be applied to all learning tasks, then you are wrong.

School math was originally grounded in what was needed for successfully navigating business and commerce. #math #maths #mathchat