Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

The problem with getting educators to change is their admitting they have been less effective than they thought they were.

“Time. Training. Incentives. There will never be enough to satisfy those resistant to change. It’s gotta be something else.” This is a suggestion worth exploring.

Often “learning styles” does not mean Learning Styles... the term is used by lots of folks to mean “vary your instruction,” “unmotivated by irrelevant material,” “confused by my first explanation,” “distracted,” and the list could go on. I’ve started asking for clarification when folks use it,

The people who claim to know the most about teaching are those who preface the statements with, “I used to be a substitute teacher.”

An absolutely correct observation. Sensible. Supported by empirical evidence. Achieved by simple means using existing capacity. Cannot be captured in an acronym. No need for a consultant.

For all of these reasons, it will never catch on.

I’m convinced calling out leaders on inconsistencies between their words and deeds leads to less workplace stress... and it adds positions to the resume as well.

False evidence based on misinterpreting dubious data is preferred to not “knowing” in the culture of many organizations.

Saying, "I agree" in 15 sentences is still just saying, "I agree." Sage advice form an online teacher.

Students Matter: At Least Decades Ago They Did
https://www.hackscience.education/students-matter-at-least-decades-ago-they-did/

Configuration Matter with School IT
https://www.hackscience.education/configuration-matters-with-school-it/

Online discussions are not for proving you know answers.

How about replacing "posts" and "replies" with "engagements" when framing online discussions?

“No immediate trigger” is a term I’ve seen to describe unexplainable changes in stock prices. Such uncertainty would never be tolerated in the “data-driven” educational communities today. There must be an answer it the data, so one is concocted.

“Yes, I am skeptical of your unsubstantiated claim. Thanks for noticing.”

Asking the questions that lead to you giving this response can make you very unpopular with the leader who invited the consultant to campus.

One thing I learned after almost 40 years in education: Nothing I was ever directed to do by school administrators ever made me a better teacher.

Personally... I use #OER and I never make my courses unavailable to students (never did even before adopting OER)... I have noticed colleagues teaching with OER on LMS, but then making the courses unavailable as soon as the term ends. Doesn’t seem right to me.

I'm wondering... if I teach using #OER, but then close my course to students after the course ends... am I violating principles of openness?

Been reading (more deeply the previously) the literature on situated learning... yeah, it is a thing... maybe *the* thing that we need to understand about learning if we want schools to become relevant again.

Standards are great in education... unless you don’t want standardized students.

Another concept that draws blank stares from the “data-driven:” confounding variables.