Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

At some point in every formal education program, students are done learning and are just looking to get out.

I became an “educational technologist” before the turn of the century. I’ve seen generations of new #edtech tools. Folks are usually surprised to hear me say almost none of them are worth the effort to learn.

“We know this is improving students’ performance,” says the data-driven leader.

“What is the effect size?” asks the audience.

Blank stare from the leader.

One thing I learned during 30+ years in classrooms is that whatever was demonized a few years ago, will be the focus of the next “school improvement” initiative.

Cool graphs. No, they don’t really show what you claim, but congratulations on using the template.

Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information. It is a creative human activity, its geniuses acting more as artists than as information processors. -Stephen Jay Gould

We have the same calendaring system... why are you sending a Doodle?

If you don’t even try to pronounce students’ names properly, it’s time to quit teaching.

Our web site has been redesigned!
What do you mean it isn’t accessible?

Cool graphs. No, they don’t really show what you claim, but congratulations on using the template.

Can we all agree that events that are correlated does not mean the first caused the second.

I’m sorry, but if you refer to students as “kiddos,” I’m unfollowing you.

The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent. - Carl Sagan

The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition. - Carl Sagan

Your data… that evidence your interventions work… may well be the Hawthorne Effect.

Hate to break the news, but books, notebooks, chalkboards are all technologies… and teachers rejected them when they were first introduced.

One thing I learned during 30 years in education: teachers vastly underestimate the quality of their tests.

Average is a meaningless measure. Variation is the reality of life.

The problem, of course, is that too much teacher education is about meeting regulations and teaching the latest “next big thing.”

IMO standard tests (which must be improved) give us insight into a small part of “being educated” (how we compare to similar folks). How students create polished products matters more. How students navigate hierarchical social organizations matters more.