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why accountability undermines authentic education and how wireless edtech can empower learning anyway

August 9, 2012 , No Comments

What is the appropriate role of wireless technology in schools?  When we look at the history of technology implementations in schools, we see any number of failures that have led to cynicism regarding technology on the part of educators, a tendency to roll one’s eyes and wait for the “silver bullet du jour” to pass.  In my opinion, the reason for the “failures” lies in a mismatch of capabilities and expectations, in a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of schooling, the role of teachers, and the capacities of students. Read more

compliance vs. collaboration

October 27, 2011 No Comments

At one time or another, every leader reflects ruefully just how much easier everything would be if their employees just did what they said. No questions, no dissent, no misunderstandings.

For some leaders, that’s a holy grail – for them professional excellence looks like an organization that runs like a machine: predictable, consistent, with quality, productivity, and efficiency continually increasing. This is the assembly line model – when we know exactly what we want to build, we can focus everything into optimizing every machine, every worker, every process on increasing the efficiency of building one exact, specific widget.

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apprentice yourself

September 17, 2011 No Comments

I’ve had a number of conversations recently with technical women who are just starting their careers.  These dynamic, smart, and interesting young women are coming into the workplace eager for new challenges and want to know how they can gain the opportunities that will let them show their worth and develop their talent within a corporate environment.  As I talk with them, I always find myself saying the same thing in one form or another: “apprentice yourself.”

 

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