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making technology work in schools second edition written by doug johnson illustrated by brady johnson machines are the easy part people are the hard part observations about

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blue skunk press cleveland mn 2004/2008 this work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-share alike 3.0 united states license isbn 1-59298-070-8 loc cat number 2004107763

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advanced reviews of the first edition from people who ought to know better every field should have a little book of wisdom to guide it doug johnson s machines are the easy part delivers practical truths and a welcome dose of humor for ed tech leaders we geeks long in need of affirmation and smiles you ll share these stories with your colleagues you ll refer to them when the funding fails and the network crashes you ll smile you ll nod you ll want to go out there and be a better leader bravo doug joyce valenza techlife@school columnist philadelphia inquirer and author of power research tools doug johnson s newest book proves the old adage that dynamite comes in small packages machines are the easy part packs powerful truths into simple examples stimulating quotations and humorous quips have a highlighter in hand because you ll want to remember line after line i laughed and shouted amen as i simultaneously read it and thought about who needed to read it next debbie silver dsilver@bayou.com author of drumming to the beat of a different marcher finding the rhythm for teaching a differentiated classroom.

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common sense wit and sound advice are in short supply these days but doug johnson s little book is overflowing with all three a tasty treat worth dropping on certain folks desk tops jamie mckenzie author of the `from now on www.fno.org and planning good change.

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table of contents forward the true miracle of the pyramids general rules 1 an expert is someone who has a somewhat defensible position but can state it with extraordinary confidence 2 it s always always always better to be a nice person than an ass 3 go with the person not the firm 4 even when hiding feels better don t do it 5 the race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on learning 6 never assume.

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change rules and job security 7 change is inevitable except in human nature 8 change anything and someone is not going to like it 9 the two things you need to make any kind of change are a thick skin and a mission from god 10 change can only be made by the rank and file 11 you always have to do something else before you can do what you want to do 12 teaching is harder than ever 13 research can tell you anything you d like to hear 14 first rule of job security find out what problems are keeping your boss from sleeping well at night 15 remember the drill bit rule 16 we can no longer afford to only work with the living 17 the importance of teacher quality 18 if you can t afford the whole cure don t even start it 19 no parent has ever had an ugly baby technology rules 20 machines are the easy part people are the hard part 21 beware the law of unintended consequences 22 explain it to me like i was 6 years old 23 what technology first makes possible it soon makes imperative 24 kids will always know more about some things than you will 25 machines shouldn t do people s jobs.

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26 technology is neither good nor bad the same hammer can both break windows and build cathedrals 27 a policy mantra 28 keep technicians and paraprofessionals in the loop 29 philosophy on implementing large technology systems i d rather be optimistic than right 30 the first sign of technology literacy is knowing when to use technology and when not to use technology 31 you can t be too thin too rich or have too much bandwidth 32 the early worm gets eaten by the bird 33 you must get the last person on board sooner or later writing and presenting rules 34 work a little humor into every communication effort 35 you can never have too much white space too big a font or too many bullet points 36 the greater the simplicity the greater the understanding 37 graphics rule 38 you can put all the pretty clothes on your dog you want but he s still a dog 39 first law of presentations show your audience pictures of happy productive children and they will believe almost anything you tell them 40 second law of presentations audiences would rather see your face than your backside.

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41 third law of presentations a misspelling in 48 point type is more noticeable than a misspelling in 12 point type 42 fourth law of presentations be consistent 43 fifth law of presentations beware of some compliments administration of anything rules 44 45 46 47 48 49 rules only work with the rational three rules of policy writing the law of effective supervision the doughnut systemtm whine prevention if you can t solve a person s problem at least let them know you re aware of the problem.

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teaching rules 50 a project not worth doing is not worth doing well 51 rule of restructuring education with technology 52 law of assessment you ll only get what you want if you can describe what you want 53 if you want creativity you have to ask for it 54 if it works with third graders it ll fly with adults 55 children will be in genuine danger if certain skills are not taught 56 integrate technology into your worst units 57 the franchise dilemma 58 teach what you use.

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library rules 59 the number of students in the media center will always be in inverse proportion to the importance of anyone visiting 60 life-long impressions of libraries are formed very young 61 the library rule rule 62 the librarian is the library 63 the paraprofessional is often the face of the library 64 there is no reason not to have a budget 65 be virtual 66 accentuate the things you can do that the internet can t 67 be a teacher first librarian second 68 don t advocate for libraries 69 poor librarians reflect on all of us 70 weed

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parting thoughts 71 72 73 74 75 everyone suffers from ids take your job seriously but not yourself there is a role for old people in technology upstream cost downstream savings advice to children and singles.

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forward the true miracle of the pyramids i once visited the great pyramids of giza and have always remembered an observation made by the gaddafi look-alike tour guide most people marvel at the engineering and building when looking at these ancient wonders but the true miracle was the sophistication of human management 4,000 years ago how did this early civilization feed house train organize and motivate the workers in order to complete these giant undertakings many books and articles on educational technology focus on the equipment itself ­ what software to use how to create and manage networks how to write lesson plans that incorporate technology what technology skills all students need ­ all sprinkled with a generous dose of tlas three letter acronyms heavy on the machines light on the humanity this little book takes a somewhat skewed approach to educational technology its focus is on the human elements to which attention must be paid before technology can have an impact on teaching and learning the book is designed to be read in one sitting or in lots of little sittings i know where i will be keeping my copy it doesn t replace anything already available it s not definitive on any topic.

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but it is my hope it will make you think give you an insight or two appeal to those of you who wish to think about technology only a healthy amount of your waking lives be reassuring to those of you who are top-notch educators without being technology gurus and perhaps give you a chuckle or two no feature creep here.

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general rules

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