Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Technology solves very few problems.

Just because you took a course in it does not mean you understand it.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
--Albert Einstein

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." --Albert Einstein

Recently, I have been reading some works by John Dewey. This is an activity I recommend all educators undertake on a regular basis.

Leaners are different. We all have differences in abilities, interests, backgrounds, and these differences affect how we approach lessons, how we interact with curriculum, this how we learn. This is not the same as "learning styles."

The data you have rarely tells and interesting story. The data you are missing has the stories you need.

If learning styles were a “real thing,” then we would expect to see differences in how individuals learn when we use their self-reported learning style. We do not see this effect in controlled settings.

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher
is the most important. ~ Bill Gates

I am amazed that I continue to encounter school iT leaders who do not prioritize teachers and students.

“You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom” is what Plato said about writing.

Humans are social creatures, and individuals gain evolutionary advantage by contributing to social groups. For these reasons, our brains have adapted to learn from social situations.

Our brain evolved to pay attention to what is important and ignore what is unimportant.

If you are interested in school, read than again and again until you get it.

Human learning has aspects that are cognitive, but it also has social and emotional aspects, and deeper learning requires students connect with the curriculum in all three ways.

A podcast episode created with AI with a chapter I published a few years ago as input. https://buff.ly/402LT2K

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
― Isaac Asimov

“Intelligence is too complex and multifaceted a thing to reduce to any single dimension.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

"They learned their lesson." No. No they did not. They will continue to make terrible decisions as long as they remain.

One reality of the digital world is that tools change. Your favorite tools will the dropped from the suite; the familiar interfaces will change with the new version of the software. New tools will be added to the suite and folks will adopt them quickly while you ignore them.

Information is not a problem we must address. In the deluge of messages, we all get today, separating the important ones from the unimportant is the challenge.