Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Here is your regular reminder that you aren’t really teaching your “content” if the ethics of its use are not in the curriculum.

What solutions were written on flip chart paper only to be ignored?

“You gotta lift the curtain to see what’s really broken.”

“If you keep doing the same thing, nothing will change.”

Some statements are so obvious as to be brilliant.

When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown. -Stephen Jay Gould

You may recall Click and Clack gave their best advice during the “third half” of every episode.

The hubris of standards advocates who believe they can predict students’ future needs is disturbing.

One thing I can conclude after 30 years in classrooms… armed guards are not the answer.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -Carl Sagan

“The tech broke” is still the most commonly given excuse for folks not doing their job.

The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing. -Isaac Asimov

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question. -Stephen Jay Gould

Technology often appears magical (paraphrasing Arthur C. Clarke)… but magic is designed to take simple and explainable actions and make humans conflate them with powerful phenomena. Let’s take it easy with the claims about AI and understand it.

Those things you say without question… they may be the source of much that troubles you.

Knowing what is known is fine. Discovering what is not known is much more important.

In a world of AI, curiosity seems the most valuable skills one can nurture.

At some point in every formal education program, students are done learning and are just looking to get out.

I became an “educational technologist” before the turn of the century. I’ve seen generations of new #edtech tools. Folks are usually surprised to hear me say almost none of them are worth the effort to learn.

“We know this is improving students’ performance,” says the data-driven leader.

“What is the effect size?” asks the audience.

Blank stare from the leader.

One thing I learned during 30+ years in classrooms is that whatever was demonized a few years ago, will be the focus of the next “school improvement” initiative.