Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

“The course is free, but the certificate is not.”

This ploy seems to validate the suggestion that the “piece of paper” really does matter… of course today it’s snippet of code.

You can't be "a data-person" and be spreading unsupported myths.

If you are collecting data... get informed consent!

“Im not giving advice because I don’t know enough.” Let’s normalize this.

Sometimes I laugh out loud at folks’ hot takes on education and teaching… then I realize they are serious.

Just because you have a graph, it may not be valid data.

I was at a meeting yesterday where the presenter said half way through their colleague was taking notes so that we “can collect data from our discussions. Maybe your quotes will show up In later presentations.” Am I over sensitive or should they have informed us first?

Some people say, “I need an example” then get stuck trying to reconcile or integrate the differences and end up doing nothing.

Once you can differentiate red herrings from meaningful practices, you will be very successful… but you will anger leaders.

If you are collecting data... get informed consent!

Retrieval practice is great, but let’s not stop when our students remember stuff.

Once you can differentiate red herrings from meaningful practices, you will be very successful… but you will anger leaders.

If your course does not include some activities in which ethics of your field and its applications are the focus, it’s time to rewrite your syllabus.

Sometimes the problem is that you get what you wanted.

Those of us who have worked in education are looking at the dumpster fires in the news and thinking, “I’ve seen worse.”

Critical ignoring is probably more important than critical thinking.

Templates are great, unless you have your own understanding of what you are doing.

It’s not the data, it’s their interpretation.

I’m always in awe of the foolishness of those “experts” who think they know other fields better than those experts.

Accessible and assistive technology. A brief blog post:
https://hackscience.education/2025/09/27/assistive-and-accessible-technology/