Category: EdTech News

It’s not you, dear Twitter, it’s me. I’m having some trust issues and just need some space.  Like so many others, I’ve made new friends and learned so very much, but I’m not sure what the future may hold.

In an era when trust in government and private data collections is being called into question – and rightfully so – privacy-minded students and educators face a dilemma. Could obfuscation tactics offer a response?

I claim my strong opinions are weakly held, but – fair warning – I’m pretty invested in the notions that phrenology is junk science, ransomware is a type of malware, and technology is integral to personalized learning.

I’d hazard that most anyone who has worked in the education and technology arena for any length of time has had to navigate conflict of interest issues. Leading a national non-profit in the field as I did, I faced perhaps more than a typical share. Two news stories this week have turned my attention (again) to the issue of conflict of interest in education, technology, and public policy.

New data analyses by NCES offer an updated assessment of the adoption of online learning by U.S. high schools – and the results allow us to (again) reassess the claims of proponents of disruptive innovation theory in education.

Cloudflare relies on the randomness of lava lamps to encrypt communications on the internet. This strikes me as both awesome and terrifying – and a stark reminder of the limits of computing.

Would you allow your employer to implant an RFID microchip the size of a grain of rice in your hand? One Wisconsin company is offering to do just that. Read about that story and others in the latest edition of ‘A Thinking Person’s Guide to EdTech News.’

Here’s what caught my eye these past two weeks – news, tools, and reports about education, public policy, technology, and innovation – including a little bit about why. No endorsements; no sponsored content; no apologies for my eclectic tastes.

We have a variety of Apple-, Microsoft-, and Google-powered computers in my house. My daily workhorse machine is a (relatively) mighty, but aging MacBook Air. I could recount the ways that each of them fall short for me or bend your proverbial ear to tell you about the type of computing device I really want. In short, I am sick of feeling like I am not in control of my own computer.

I’ve concluded that this is not the future of personal computing I want, so I am switching to Linux.