Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

How you react when your virtual meetings go “off the rails” says much about your leadership.

Humans "are always seeking improvements in technology (e.g. to meet emerging needs or to improve efficiency, safety, or reliability)." The problem is the "improvements" are not always and not for everyone.

Technologies are dynamic and continually evolving due to new discoveries and the human drive for improvement.

A blog post on the recursive nature of technology, now with audio. https://hackscience.education/2018/08/29/technology-is-recursive/
#technology #edtech

I’m not sure who hasn’t heard this, but it is *not* acceptable to compose an email in all caps. If you send one to an IT person, assume you have just yelled at them in an unprofessional manner. If they respond politely, you are lucky.

“Learning [may] not happen by accident,” but it is often spontaneous, serendipitous, and contrary to the intended lessons. #education #teaching #school

“For every complex problem, there is a simple answer and it is wrong.” -H. L. Mencken

A post for network security students
https://hackscience.education/2025/08/10/cryptographic-protocols/

A post for students in my network security course
https://hackscience.education/2025/08/10/threat-actors/

I’m not sure who hasn’t heard this, but it is *not* acceptable to compose an email in all caps. If you send one to an IT person, assume you have just yelled at them in an unprofessional manner. If they respond politely, you are lucky.

When I see “unbiased” in your tag line, I just smile and shake my head.

Anyone else noticing the educator who is reluctant to record, caption, and publish their sessions is the same one who insists all training sessions be recorded?

Someone familiar with my background asked me recently, “don’t you think schools should just teach the facts, and leave politics out of it.” “No,” I responded before going on a several minute rant. I don’t think they were very happy with me.

Seriously faculty... grumble to yourself about your responsibility to make materials accessible, but don’t complain out loud... or in writing.

I’ve been fight the urge to say, “rendering and captioning an entire lecture is too long? Well maybe organize you course around learning rather than lecturing” frequently in the last few weeks.

“Parents have become aware of puzzling change in behavior patterns of their children.” Radio caused such a stir in 1936.

“This new invader of the privacy of the home has brought many a disturbing influence in its wake,” was written about radio in 1936.

I use “automatically graded multiple choice quizzes” (2 attempts) as a fraction of my course (30% this term). I encourage students to identify errors (I explain how question banks are prone to error). I always get students asking about questions after a quiz is completed.

I used to work with an instructor who gave his students group work and it lasted for as long as it took to walk to the coffee machine, fill his cup, and walk back. Don’t be that teacher.

“Yeah, I have a work-around, but it is way too many steps.” I’m going to start calling these “too much extra work-arounds.” #edtech #technology