Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

The new education initiative... it will be gone soon.

"Achieving outcomes" is the least meaningful thing you can do with students.

In education, folks are hired for their expertise, then they are never allowed to use it.

Just becasue technology can do it, does not men it should do it.

Just because you have hired someone to do it does not mean its getting done.

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