Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

If your “research” does not seek to answer a question, then it isn’t research.

I’m starting a list of “things leaders did to make me start job searches.”

“You can just read a book” when declining my request to attend a conference to learn about an innovative new practice is on top of the list.

“But I’ll be dammed if nature can validate, or even address, such cultural hopes and preferences.” -Stephen Jay Gould

OK, so I remember events that I know happened during the year covered in the “50 years ago” column in Scientific American. How did that happen?

Design it the way they are going to use it. Of course, they are going to do with it what they want, but design away.

Hey students... don’t set goals you are not in 100% in control of it. Your goal “improve my grade in math” for example is controlled by your teacher. Sure you can affect it by studying, but the grade is determined by your teachers’ judgement (and bias).

If you have one solution (e. g. Chromebook, think-pair-share), you are solving a small portion of your problems and making many others worse.

“I’m a ‘big idea’ type of leader” is not something one need announce... we can tell by how you get distracted by new ideas. And, by the way, those of us whose ideas are rationale and reasonable and innovative are implementing our own.

Yeah... when I first heard “accountability” enter the #education jargon in the 1990’s, I knew we had taken a step in the wrong direction. It is one of the most distracting of the red herrings in the field.

Turning it off and on again fixes most technology things.

Even the greatest scientific achievements are rooted in their cultural contexts. - Gould and Eldredge

Just because we use it in a certain way does not mean the inventor intended that use.

Teaching about your subject isn’t really teaching... if we assume teaching should correlate with learning.

Certainty is both a blessing and a danger. -Stephen Jay Gould

A blog post on school leaders needs for technology expertise now with audio:
https://hackscience.education/2018/06/26/edtech-for-edleaders-a-rationale/

A blog post focusing on the characteristics of good IT systems, written for school leaders, now with audio:
https://hackscience.education/2018/06/22/edtech-for-edleaders-what-we-want-in-it-systems/

A post on malware designed for my network security students:
https://hackscience.education/2025/06/15/malware-definitions-and-avoidance/

For #Edleaders, prioritize IT systems that are #Reliable (always on), #Robust (fast & efficient), and #Secure (protected & accessible). These three are non-negotiable.

Learning is intensely personal. Another’s assessment of my learning is nice, but it is so very incomplete.

Leader goes to a conference. Hears of a wonderful strategy. Returns to school. Begins advocating for it as if they are innovators. That really pisses off those adopters who have been refining the strategy for years. #highschool #highereducation #leadership