Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org
- On the web:
- https://hackscience.education/
Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation at a community college in New England
Retired k-12 science/ math/ technology teacher/ technology integration specialist/ coordinator
Joined Nov 2022
Ostensibly, data-driven education is undertaken in an attempt to apply the objective and reliable methods of science to education, thus remove doubt about what educators are doing.
In political discussions, it is often desired that participants agree. In order to reach compromise, participants in political debate can diverge from common understanding; while agreeing on the language, the participants disagree on the action being labeled.
Just as it is not appropriate to have a teacher providing network support, it is not appropriate to have a network administrator making educational decisions.
It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.
-- Richard P. Feynman
In science, values include valid and reliable data and open sharing of data.
Schools are perpetually beginning new practices, and none is ever allowed to have deep influences on pedagogy and student experiences.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
-- Albert Einstein
You know that instruction that was s important and meaningful for you? Other hated it.
Especially in this century, education has become the focus of much political attention.
A bonus episode in which I reflect on a story about a student and computing in schools. https://bit.ly/3XtSHFg
"If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin."
--Charles Darwin
"Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature."
--Michael Faraday
Seriously. Can we start assessing if our data is sufficient, meaningful, biased? Bad data leads to bad decisions , but that doesn't stop "data-driven" folks from using it.
"People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them."
--Eric Hoffer
If you use AI well, you won't be replaced by it.
I never trusted inattentive classmates to fill me in on what I missed in lecture. For the same reason, I don't trust AI to tell me what is in an article. It might help, but I'm going to check for myself.
One thing I learned from 30+ years in classrooms: The best teaching proceeds from whole ("this is what we are moving towards" to parts )"lets' break it down") then back to whole ('see I told you we'd get here").
Schools reflect the society that creates them. Maybe that's why they are difficult places to work today.
- On the web:
- https://hackscience.education/
Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation at a community college in New England
Retired k-12 science/ math/ technology teacher/ technology integration specialist/ coordinator
Joined Nov 2022
