OK, so let's jump into this. We're looking at
an article you flagged from hackscience .education.
It's called Ed Tech for Ed Leaders, What We Want
in IT Systems, by Gary Ackerman. That's the one.
And our goal here, really, is to unpack what
the source says about the priorities for IT professionals
building and running tech in schools. Exactly.
And the article gets straight to the point. It
suggests IT pros kind of rally around three core
ideas, three words. for what they want systems
to be. Three specific words. Yeah. And these
seem to be the heart of it, right? What IT leaders
are aiming for. The first one the article brings
up is reliable. Reliable, yeah. Fundamentally,
it's about availability. I mean, can people actually
use the system when they need it, where they
need it? Right. The article uses a good parallel.
Thinking about your internet provider or web
hosting, they're always talking about uptime.
Ah, uptime percentages. Like, is it 99 % available
or 99 %? 0 .9%, that kind of thing. Exactly.
And for someone in a school, a teacher, a student,
it's very direct, isn't it? Yeah, totally. If
the Wi -Fi connects every single time, if that
learning platform works during class, you just
think, OK, it's reliable. That's how you perceive
it. And the source, it does note the challenges
in schools. You've got all sorts of different
devices, maybe old wiring, and just tons of connections
needed all at once. So hitting high reliability
there, it's a It's a real task. It's not just
a number. Makes sense. It has to be there when
needed. OK, so that's reliable. What's the second
characteristic from the article? Robust. What's
that about? Robust networks. They're about handling
the load, you know, capacity. Can the system
cope when, say, everyone logs on at 9 a .m.?
Oh, yeah. The article talks about measuring this
off in a data rate bandwidth, basically trying
to avoid latency. Latency, the dreaded slowness,
that spinning icon. Right. We've all been there.
When you're trying to load a video or something
critical. And the article makes a good point.
We often blame our computer, but that lag, that
latency, it's usually the network struggling.
So not enough capacity for the traffic at that
moment. Pretty much. The system can't deliver
the data fast enough. So robust system is built
to prevent that bottleneck, keeps things smooth,
even under pressure. Super important in a classroom
setting, right? Definitely. OK, so reliable is
available. Robust is. Performs well under load
got it. Yeah, what's the third piece? The third
one is secure This is all about protection protecting
the system the data Controlling access keeping
things safe a secure network lets the right people
in easily But keeps the wrong people and you
know malware and other threats out does the article
mention specific threats like hackers. It mentions
external hackers, yeah, and also malware. But
importantly, it also stresses that security isn't
just stopping bad things. It's also having plans,
solid systems, to restore everything quickly
if something does go wrong, like a data breach
or some outage. Ah, the recovery aspect makes
sense. You need to get back up and running fast
in a school. Exactly. Minimize that disruption
to learning. Security in schools must be a bit
of a balancing act, though. You need it tight,
but students and staff, they need fairly easy
access to learning tools. Does the article touch
on that usability balance? It sort of implies
it. It doesn't go deep into how, but the focus
on authorized users getting what they need while
blocking others, it suggests it can't before
it knocks. Right. It has to actually enable learning,
not just block threats. It's a different setup
than, say, a bank's IT. Context is key. OK, so
there we have it. Reliable, robust, and secure.
The three pillars Gary Ackerman outlines in this
hack science dot education piece. And thinking
about it, given the source focuses on tech management
in schools, these three really nail why they're
so critical for education IT folks. They directly
shape the day to day experience. Absolutely.
They're not just tech jargon. They're, well,
foundational for making education work with today's
technology. It really does give you a different
perspective. So for you listening. Think about
the tech you interact with in your own school
or learning environment, the Wi -Fi, the online
platforms, all that stuff. How does thinking
about reliability, robustness, and security change
how you view those systems now? And maybe reflect
a bit. Which of those three feels like the most
critical for your learning or teaching? Where
do you feel the pinch most often? Something to
chew on.