Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

If you are unwilling to change your mind when the evidence changes, then science is not for you

“We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

I know a book is a good (really good) if I read a physical copy after reading the audio version or if I read the audio version after reading the physical version.

When I led youth activities my mantra was "end before they are sick of it." I think the Olympics need to take my advice.

Quantities like standard deviation make sense and help folks understand both the sample and the meaning for a case if it is taught conceptually. When we focus on computing it, folks lose all understanding.

Demoralized, bored, distracted students. Let’s quit bitching and start fixing.

One thing I learned during my 35 year teaching: great lectures are great, but most lecturers are terrible.

“Can we create a computer that does what teachers do?”

It depends on what the teacher does.

“X should not be taught before college” (whatever topic is x and whatever level you choose) is likely to be preached by someone who doesn’t know the topic or the students… at least that’s what I observed over 40 years.

Clocks seem simple and harmless, but they control much that humans do.

“Humans are blind to the truth.” Some sure are.

How many AI authors observe “AI will be the tutor of the future” on one page and “ teachers won’t go away on the next?” I’ve noticed it in several books.

Too much data inhibits good decision making.

Reading book on technology from 30 years ago, and the author pokes fun at the suggestion that “meetings will take place over video connections.”

Maybe we reject “data-driven” decisions in favor of good decisions.

No IT professional wants users of their systems to be ineffective and complaining. They need to listen to those complaints to make them go away, however.

For those making IT decisions for teaching and learning in schools, the unpredictable nature of classrooms with students, teachers, and varying curriculum can contradict what they know about planning, testing, and deploying technology systems.

Sending an email that says, "I just emailed you...." are more annoying than those who reply all. Reply all can be done by accident.

I got a text from a participant in a Zoom meeting today. They said, "What you jut said makes so much sense." I responded, "I have work in ___ for 40 years , I have a lot of experience responding to dumb ideas." What field fills in the blank?

The role of IT professionals in schools is to ensure the infrastructure is in place to get the bits to where they need to be. It's simple in principle; complex in reality.