Welcome

Welcome to the award-winning website of Bill MacKenty - where I discuss technology and education! I'm the Director of Technology at the American School of Warsaw, where I support the effective use of technology in schools and classrooms.

Games work in education

I am especially interested in the use of computer games in learning and teaching. I have successfully used games in my classroom to help students learn. Please click here to see what I've written about games in education, and feel free to explore Balanced Gaming, my consulting business that helps parents, schools, and gamers understand how computer games fit into a balanced life.

Educational Technology

Technology strengthens, deepens, and broadens our learning. Want a hint how to successfully integrate technology into learning? It's not about the what, it is about the how. Click here to learn more....

Expression Engine

Expression Engine is a best-of-class content publishing system. I've used Expression Engine to provide powerful and flexible solutions for my school. Built on the Code Igniter PHP framework, it is an excellent tool for schools.

Text Based Games

Text based gaming has been around since the earliest days of computing. Using only text, players enter in another world, and explore, socialize, achieve and impose in the game world. There is no sound, no flashy graphics, simply text. Click here to learn more.

About

I first realized I was a geek in the 6th grade. My 6th grade math teacher put me in front of a Texas Instruments 99A and 4 days later I was teaching the class how to program. I absolutely love hacking around in OS X and Linux. I have worked with kids and helped others my entire life. I love teaching, and watching a kid “get it” really lights me up. I am very interested in effective education, educational theory, assessment, and learning.

From the Blog


Digitally inclined: new research report from PBS

Ok, just to be a curmudgeon here, this is a research report commissioned from a media company that talks about how great media is.

Still…

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iPad for education - Not yet…

The iPad is here. Is it good for education? No way. I hope this post will help you see what we actually do with…

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Technology competencies for school administrators

I am in my last semester for an administration and supervision at Hunter College, in New York City.  When I finish this program, I will…

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Designing video games helps kids learn?

Courtesy of Science Daily (pdf here) comes a study that suggests rapid video game development can boost student learning.  From the article:



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Why podiums or wireless LCD’s are better than plugging….

We have a lot of smartboards in our school.  Due to a lack of space, teachers are in different rooms almost every period. This means,…

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Google security whitepaper for schools

One of the reasons we haven’t switched to google applications is because of our concerns about security and data ownership.  I’d like to move us…

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Teaching advanced applications

This is a pleasant surprise!

I’m offering an after-school, non-credit bearing class in advanced applications today.  We will start with wiki’s, move onto serious…

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virtual private servers: an update

I asked about virtual private servers a few days ago, and after some consideration, I decided to go with Linode.  All I can…

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Average child spends 10 hours, 45 minutes per day using media

This is buzzing around the net, I thought I’d add to the discussion.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (pdf here) kids are spending…

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About

I am the director of technology at the American School of Warsaw. I am committed to strengthening, deepening and broadening student learning through technology. I honestly believe HOW we teach is far more important than WHAT we use to teach. I am a technology skeptic and a technology evangelist. I am certified school building leader and school district leader in New York State. I love technology, and hacking around - especially in Linux and OS X. I am a text-based gaming aficionado, and I enjoy smoking a pipe now and again. Please feel free to poke around and learn more about me and my views of educational technology.

I do almost everything there is to do in technology and education. My goal is create the conditions for excellence in education through technology. And I'd like to share what I know with the educators in Poland.

Testimonials

Bill is a true pioneer in educational technology who knows his stuff and who has a knack for explaining that stuff without denegrating or belittling his audience. He taxes the audience's attention, not their education or intellect.

Chuc M....

Conference Notes and Press

Scholastic Administrator - 2011

Many thanks to the folks at Scholastic for this great story about computer games and learning (pdf here). I was interviewed for this, and it's always nice for people to ask what you think.

I'm getting my "first year as a tech director" stuff out of the way, and then I plan on aggressively adding games to the learning at my school, and evangelizing games and learning here in Poland. For the curious, I've set up a doorway portal for games and learning here.

Baruch College - 2010

Keynote: The Right Circumstances for Games in Education

Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium, New York - August 19 2008
Presentation here (1.8mb PDF file).

Top 10 best ed tech blogs June 2008

M*U*S*H: Online lecture: the advantage of ignorance

Boston Globe: blogging in the classroom

Article here | pdf here (42.5 KB PDF file)

School Library Journal: Games in the classroom

Article here | pdf here (58.8 KB PDF file)

Tech Forum Chicago

eSchool News blog award & roundtable

Games Developer Conference

Hunter College High School: Integrating Technology

2006 Martha's Vineyard Technology Professional Development Day

Introduction to Blogging (4.4 MB PDF file)

2005 MassCUE Annual Technology Conference

This is the blogging presentation in PDF format (about 2.5 MB)
Games in Education (warning, 14 MB file !!!)

Tech Forum New York

Public forum on Video Games, Kids, and Education

Games in Education Conference at E3Expo 2005