Lessons Learned: Preventing Companies from Keeping Your Users and Institution as a Locked-In User

Since my decision to discontinue my use of Evernote after Bending Spoons eliminated the plan for Personal Users, I have found my replacement: the Notes app within my Mac OS system.

The Mac OS Notes app successfully captures what I wanted to do with my note taking activities and other tasks I was doing with Evernote. It turns out, with some modifications, I can do all that I was doing with Evernote.

For example, while the Notes App does not have “notebooks” it turns out that its “Folders” feature functions in the same manner. You can gather connected documents into a folder and tag the folder. You can scan documents; insert documents; insert audio recordings, etc.

Basically, Notes appears very much like Evernote used to be before Bending Spoons acquired it and began adding Bloatware to it in order to charge customers more.

I suppose Bending Spoons did me a favor. I was really paying to use Evernote when I did not need it. The simple solution was right there all the time.

Sometimes the solution to our problems is already there, and sometimes, when it comes to tech solutions, it’s not the product expanded with bloated features; it’s the simple solution.

Sometimes the “Keep It Simple” adage is best, and app solution developers would do well to keep that in mind when the adding of features does not always equate to value for your current users. Keep your current users in mind and don’t add features that degrade their experience of your product. That is, if you have any loyalty to your current customers.

Keep adding bloated features that pull your product away from what your legacy and original users want, then expect those users to exit when the costs are too high and your product can be superseded by a solution that captures what they want to do.

On the flip side of things, all users would do well to prevent themselves from getting “locked-in” with apps and tech products. Keep yourself flexible and portable so you can relocate at any point the app developer stops providing the product you want and need.

Figure out a way to transfer those app escape costs back to the app developer where they belong. 

After all, they are trying to engineer their products to keep you “locked in” as a user. With some anti-lock in measures, you can keep that from happening.

Educators Need to Teach True AI and Technology Literacy

Should we be afraid of AI? If you listen to the Seers of Silicon Valley, we should be shaking in our boots. AI is going to displace us in our jobs; turn us into Duracel batteries; and turn us into gurgling, nonthinking imbeciles, sitting in our homes with technology waiting on us hand and foot.

Not true. Besides, our Seers have gotten much wrong in the past, so why would we expect the Bill Gateses, Alex Karps, or Sam Altmans of the world to have access to anything that resembles our future? Besides, their wealth and future is entirely dependent upon the fate of their now favorite technology. That has always been the case.

My real concern here is not with their self-serving prognosticating nonsense, but with what we as educators should be doing if we really give a damn about what is being called “AI Literacy.” 

As a part of “AI Literacy” we should be teaching students the real function of these stories and to see them for what they really are and do. For starters:

1-They make it seem like there is only one possible direction for the development of AI, their chosen route. Not so.

2-We are powerless to do anything about it, and must accept the AI they have provided for us. Not really.

3-They purposely hide who is really going to win and benefit from AI; which includes them and all the minions and bottomfeeders gathering the scraps that fall from their table.

4-The Seers prevent any public debate about their version of AI, and curtail any questioning of the goods they are delivering. That’s Silicon Valley marketing tactics at their best.

5-They also prevent any questioning of the massive resource shift (water, power, minerals, human resources) to their benefit at the expense of everyone else. They are stealing resources for their own wealthy gain.

If we are going to teach students anything about AI, it should be to teach them critical thinking instead of turning AI into an object of worship. We did that with the PC, the Web, and social media, and are reaping the results.

All technology literacy needs to teach students about all aspects of every technology we use.

As an educator, our responsibility is not to generate unquestioning users and consumers for the products developed by the Seers of Silicon Valley. 

Our responsibility should transcend making students consumers of technology; it should be empowering them to shape the future with or without technologies. This is done by giving them the gift of critically analyzing what the Seers are saying and not saying.

At least by doing that, we keep our students from becoming the tools of the technologies they use. 

That’s AI literacy, Technology literacy at its best!

Questioning Whether to Adopt and Adapt to Tech Including AI: It Is Still a Choice

Photo by Author: Blueridge Afternoon Blooms

The idea that a technology is inevitable so we might as well accept it and adapt to is an unquestioned norm our our current society. When a new invention comes along--the desktop PC, the smartphone, social media, and now artificial intelligence--we are told that it is inevitable; that it is fruitless to resist. We should just acquiesce, adopt, and adapt to that technology-machine. To not do so is to be a Luddite. To not accept and adapt will somehow put you "behind." But is this the case? What if we question this so-called "doctrine of technological inevitability" used to promote these gadgets?

The idea of "technological inevitability" is largely unquestioned in our tech-worshipping world. As new gadgets come and go, consumers race in circles to keep up. But is this idea of inevitability reality, or is it a tactic of manipulative-marketing? Nichols Fox, in her book, Against the Machine, poses a question that gets to the heart of this inevitability doctrine:

"People must, in other words, adapt to the machine. The idea that it should be the other way around--that machines should adapt to humans--seems not to have occurred to anyone. And yet it would seem obvious. Who, after all, is in control here?"

This a clear statement that pierces through the inevitability doctrine of tech integration. We were told when PCs, social media, smartphones, (you insert whatever tech gadget you wish here)..."you have no choice but to use and adapt your lives around these devices." Now, AI is the latest and the inevitability doctrine of tech integration is again being invoked. But, Fox's question reminds us that I-you-we are still in control here.

The notion and question of who is in control at the advent of a new technology is immediately hijacked bu a promo-marketing assemblage of tech-inventors, entrepreneurs, consultants, salespersons, all who stand to gain a bundle and even establish their professional identities on getting more and more people to acquiesce, adopt, and adapt to this new technology. Their doctrine of technological inevitability immediately says, "You can't control this...you can't resist, so you might as well let this technology into your life as it is." These tech-promo-optimists frame the entire argument around the "get-on-board-or-be-behind-or-be-irrelevant" argument. It is their old promo-rhetorical tactic used over and over again. But it is wrong and manipulative. I-you-we are still in control. We can still choose which technologies we allow into our lives; we can choose how we use those technologies, and if they do not work for us, we can choose not to use them. We must see through the manipulative application of the inevitability doctrine of tech integration and adoption.

Our lives will certainly not end, and we will not be destined to a life of inefficiency and unproductivity if we choose not to adopt or adapt to the latest offering by Tech. The opposite could also be true that the adoption and adaption of our Tech will help us be more efficient and productive. The point, however, is, we can and should choose for ourselves if, how, and when we allow the shining baubles of tech to enter our lives. We need to take control of these instead of being controlled by these machines. 

We also need to see through the manipulative marketing of tech-peddlers, consultants, and prophets of prosperity and discover for ourselves the role technologies play in our lives and work.

I-you-we still have the power of choice. We can demand that the technologies adapt to us, and if they do not, it is not a sin to say "No thanks."

Edu-Techno-Utopian Voices Got It Wrong with Remote Learning

“No matter the problem, it seems, a chorus of techno-utopian voices is always at the ready to offer up 'solutions' that, remarkably enough, typically involve the same strategies (and personnel) as those that helped give rise to the crisis in the first place. We can always code our way out, we are assured. We can make, bootstrap, and science the shit out of this.” Thomas S. Mullaney, "Your Computer Is On Fire"

Interesting thoughts here by Mullaney and some truth. There truly exists “a chorus of techno-utopian voices…ready to offer up ‘solutions’ that…typically involve the same strategies (and personnel) as those helped give rise to the crisis in the first place.” Education has its own “techno-utopian chorus” that sings of tech-solutions to everything that ails us in education too. Educational problems are seen as opportunities to solve with technology. But, as the recent remote learning experiment clearly demonstrated, our educational problems are not always solvable with tech. 

In fact, the application of tech, like in this situation, often amplifies existing problems, and causes a whole set of new problems. For example, in the remote learning experiment, the problem of parental involvement in their children’s education was magnified for those students because parents who were able to assist were either non-existent or not available. The students that remote learning most penalized were these students. There was not a ZOOM technology that could solve this issue because it was a problem before the pandemic, and it was a problem magnified during.  A whole set of new problems accompanied the remote learning experiment too. For example, how to effectively provide the services, such as counseling, therapy, and lunch to students who were not physically present, not to mention the issue of missing socialization with peers that works best in physical presence. 

As Mullaney points out, our first reaction as educators is to try to “code our way out” of the problem, or “science the shit out of it.”  Perhaps the problem in education is our recurring turn toward technology for answers. Sure, the tech industry loves that thinking and helps foster it, but we need to think independently. 

Time for a Little Heretical Thought in the Ed Tech World

If anyone has noticed, I have subtly changed the byline of this blog, for it once stated:

"Technology, Teaching, and Public School Advocate"

and now it simply states,

"Thoughts on Education, Literature, Politics, and Philosophy of Education."

Not that many even I feel I have to explain myself. Why the change? I lost my religion, or stated differently: I have increasingly began to feel as if "Technology" already has enough advocates and needs more critics.

While I am sure no one really pays attention to such things,  I have increasingly felt that the "Ed Tech" evangelists have become less critical of technology, and in some ways have come to believe that it alone offers the "salvation of education" and our students. I myself could so be judged from my various blather on this blog as one of the "technology-faithful." Yet, time, experience, and thought has cost me my own uncritical faith in the power of the PC (or the Mac) to lead to educational paradise.

Neil Postman, that powerful critic of technology himself, perhaps had in mind the malady that inflicts the current "Ed Tech" world and education when described something called "Technopoly." He stated that "technopoly is a state of mind," and that it consists in the "deification of technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes it orders from technology." It also causes the "development of a new social order," leads to the "rapid dissolution of much associated with traditional beliefs," and sees technical progress as our "supreme achievement" as well as the means by which all our problems will be solved. To me, it would seem that Postman was actually describing the basic tenants of the current "Ed Tech" religion that in some appellations appears to be a "fundamentalist religion."

Don't get me wrong, I still embrace my iPhone and PC, for they allow me to do things that make life richer, easier, and efficient. I am no Luddite. But I have become a heretic of sorts when it comes to all this uncritical promotion of everything tech in education. The tenants of "ED Tech" fundamentalism should be questioned, and every time some educator, keynote speaker, tech salesman begins to sell their wares or promote their ideas, it is time lay aside our personal enthusiasm, or friendships, and our techno-enthusiasm and ask the heretical questions of whether what is said is really truth of dogma.

I no longer adhere to the doctrine that "deifies" technology as the answer to all our educational problems. I also no longer think that "disruption" and "innovation" with technology is always a good thing. Are we really trying to improve our students' education or are we simply trying to promote technology for its own sake. Perhaps we are also only using technology to promote ourselves instead of what is truly beneficial for our students. Do we really think more and better technology is going to finally educate all our students?

Dropping the "Technology advocate" part of my byline was important to me. Technology needs no advocate but our students do. There's enough commercial and tech industry salespersons and techno-fundamentalists out there advocating for the technology. What is sorely needed are us techno-heretics, who have a sober view of technology, and who are willing to question the tenants of Ed Tech fundamentalism.

Technology can either be tools that we use to enhance our lives and the education of our students, or they can become that which directs our lives. I choose the former.

Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. Vintage: New York, NY.

Flipboard: Must-Have Newsreader App for School Leaders with Android Devices

For those school administrators using Android tablets, and phones, what I consider to be the best newsreader experience in smartphone apps became available today: Flipboard for Android.
For those not familiar with Flipboard, it is a newsreader app that allows you to choose the news you see on your device. You can also see your Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tumbler feeds. You can even download your Google Reader Feeds too. As a longtime user of Flipboard on my iPad, I was happy that I now can have that same experience on my Android tablet. From my perspective, it is one of the easiest newsreaders to set up, and one of the easiest to use. Check out Flipboard for Android in the Google Play Store.

Flipboard for Android

E-Reader Wars: The Best E-Book Software for the Educator

E-books are here, at least for me. For the past three months, I haven't purchased a single book in all my excursions to the local Barns and Noble bookstore in my hometown. I have, though, purchased several ebooks instead. In fact, there is great satisfaction for me that I can purchase a book and immediately download it to my iPad or PC. What I have discovered though is that not all ebook readers and ebook providers are created equal, even though most of the readers provide the same basic features. Which e-reader should you buy? Here's my thoughts on the matter.

Kindle and Amazon


I confess that I started using Barnes and Noble's Nook reader more than Amazon's Kindle. However, I've quickly learned that Amazon offers a far larger selection of ebooks than Barnes and Noble. For example, I recently was interested in purchasing Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement by Lynne Schrum and Barabara Levin. I found the book on Barnes and Noble, but no ebook version was available. The ebook was available at Amazon. Amazon offers users a much larger selection of ebooks than any of the other providers. Perhaps Amazon has discovered the secret of the ebook market: it's not the shiny features of the ebook reader that matters, it's the selection of ebooks you offer.

Kindle App for PC Interface

Nook / Barnes and Noble


Barnes and Noble provides an interesting ereading application for the PC in its NookStudy reader. (You can download it for your PC here.) I've really found its features quite useful. For example, you can import PDFs and read them, and you can take notes as you read and then export them as a word processing file. In spite of its bells and whistles though, Barnes and Noble doesn't have the number of ebooks available that Amazon does. That's especially true for professional education books. The Nook reader software for the desktop and the iPad is extremely user friendly, but ultimately it doesn't matter to me how useful it is if they do not offer an adequate selection of books.

NookStudy Screenshot

Apple's iBooks


Apple seems to have spent a great deal of effort developing a slick, appealing application for its iDevices, but like Barnes and Noble, they suffer from selection dearth. The iBook application does allow for importing PDFs, and they also offer quite a selection of free ebooks. However, browsing for those in the iBook app for my iPad is awkward and non-intuitive. I would also add that a major shortfall of the iBook app is that there's currently no PC app to access the books you purchase like there is with the Kindle app and Nook app.

Sony E-Reader


I really have little to say about Sony's e-reader because I've yet to get it to work on my laptop. There is no e-reader for my iPad either, so I have no reason at this point to recommend their product.

At this point, I would recommend highly Amazon's Kindle reader as the best app for ebooks. Ultimately, an e-reader application is only as good as the book selection available, and Amazon seems to be the winner in this category at this time.

Simple Solution for Backing Up Gmail on Your Hard Drive

Every once in a while I stumble across one of those software tools, that I just can't wait to share with others. GMail Backup is one of the applications. I have two Gmail accounts, a personal and my district account, and even though I'm not quite near the storage limit, I have often wondered how I was going to be able to keep accessible copies of my emails in a location where I can access them and manage my storage as it got closer to the limit. GMail Backup is an application that gives me that option.

The software interface itself is simple to use. You do have the option to specific a certain period of time that your email backup covers. I ran the application to back up my district account, which has a substantial number of emails, and it took just about an hour. Now I have copies of my email located on my hard drive and on my portable hard drive. The software also has a restore option, which I haven't yet tried. The software is free to download, but the developer asks for a donation. Check it out here: http://www.gmail-backup.com/ .

Gmail Backup's Simple-to-Use Interface

What Are the Must-Have Classroom iPad Apps? Please Share Your List

In my previous post, I included an excellent video that I think captures very effectively how the iPad can transform the classroom into a 21st century learning environment. Larry Mitchell's students are the picture of high engagement as they tackle both normal classroom tasks and authentic learning tasks.

The simple truth regarding any technological device like the iPad is that it's only as good as the applications it is using. My next question is, "What are the best iPad apps for the classroom?" I have written several times regarding those apps that I think administrators should use, but what would be apps to include on every iPad we put in classrooms?  Feel free to share your thoughts below. I hope to share out responses at a later date.

Who Needs a Flashdrive Anymore? Two Technological Solutions to Storage

Storage is not one of the most exciting technological parts of a geeky discussion about computers, but there are two solutions that every educator should have. One is a Dropbox account and the other is a relatively new storage/cloud solution called Syncdocs. Both of these technological solutions help make using a computer easier and make using cloud applications like Google Docs easier.

Dropbox has actually launched in 2008 and is easily one of my all time favorite technology tricks. Instructional technologists everywhere can win the loyalty of their administrators by simply introducing them to this solution. I can honestly say that I haven’t picked up a flash drive in months because Dropbox made it obsolete. The biggest selling points for Dropbox was:

• Being able to save files into a folder on my school laptop, and having access to those same files on both the web and also in the folder of my desktop at home.
• Being able to share specific folders with specific people. I don’t have to share my entire Dropbox folder, I can share individual files or individuals folders.

Dropbox Web Interface

If you want to brighten an educator’s day today, show them the wonders of Dropbox. They will be amazed. For more information about Dropbox check out their website here.

Syndocs is a solution that takes advantage of Google Docs. Since our district converted to Google Apps last summer, this is an excellent addition to those tools to help maintain consistent storage across devices. Syndocs is an application that you install on your computer and it syncs your Google Docs items across desktops that have the software. Like Dropbox, it automatically syncs upon boot. It allows you to do the following:

• Backup your desktop files in the cloud in your Google Docs account.
• Backs up your Google Docs files on your desktop.
• Whatever folder you designate automatically syncs to Google Docs and back to any other desktops that have the application installed and that folder selected.
• It places any office suite files you save into the designated sync folder into your Google Docs account.

For more information on Syndocs and to download the program, check out the web site here.

Who needs flash or any kinds of portable storage devices anymore. Drobox and Syndocs help you take advantage of storage versatility in the cloud.

Just How Bad Is the Budget Situation in North Carolina? Video by NC High Students

I think this video says about all that can be said about both our budget crisis in North Carolina, and the approach our political establishment is taking with budget cuts. This video was created by Career Technical Education students in a multimedia class. It is a very moving tribute to what is currently happening in education in North Carolina.



The Impact of Budget Cuts in Education from WNDR News on Vimeo.

Thank you to the students at AL Brown High School in Kannapolis, North Carolina for reminding us of the importance of education.

No Administrator Left Behind: Technologically Speaking

Administrators not engaging technology are not just in danger of becoming irrelevant, they are in danger of becoming living fossils. Engaging technology means exploring the potential of technology too, not just expecting it of teachers and students to do so. Recently, I stumbled across this video and it was a vivid reminder of just how fast our world is changing due to the Internet. Those who still hold on to the idea that the "Internet Is a Fad" are delusional. Both the Internet and its functions and uses are expanding phenomenally. My advice to fellow administrators: "Engage it, explore it, or you will be left behind." For those who are having a bit of a problem understanding how rapidly the Internet and its many uses are changing, here’s a visual reminder.



The statistics are truly overwhelming, and I honestly can't imagine that there are still school administrators who fail to see how the Internet is disrupting everything we do. I'm not concerned as much about students being left behind technologically. After watching this video, I'm more afraid of administrators being left behind.

Future Educational Leaders Need Ability to Manage Technology Shifts

I stumbled across this post from Matthew Ingram entitled “Future Leaders Will Be Those Who Can Manage Technology Shifts.”

According to Ingram, “The big question for businesses today is how they adapt to (technology progression) and particularly how the leaders of companies handle the implementation of technology inside their organizations, and try to help their employees evolve and succeed. And the leaders of the future will likely be those who are flexible enough to move with those changes, rather than the people who moved up through the ranks the traditional ways.”

Leadership in schools will also require this same ability to adapt and help others adapt to the progression of technology. That means having leaders who embrace technological change rather than trying to keep it outside the building. (Hence my argument regarding Facebook.) If we are going to be educational leaders in this quickly shifting technological landscape, we need to be agile in every way possible.

In the video below, Allen Delattre makes an excellent argument for needing a new kind of business leader able to manage technology shifts. Much of what he says could be applied to educational leadership as well.

Watch live streaming video from gigaomtv at livestream.com
Leadership for Managing Technology Shifts