#technology

How Karpathy's LLM wiki pattern maps onto educator knowledge work and local AI systems.

Practical ways to tell which AI model you are using when platforms and models stay opaque.

What a self-hosting project taught me about computational thinking, risk, tradeoffs, and reasoning carefully through technical decisions.

Why the hardest part of bringing AI into curriculum is not logic or pedagogy, but the logistics, shame, and practical constraints educators actually face.

How I turned a pile of local services into a coherent private cloud with domain names, HTTPS, and a real front door.

Why convenience stopped being enough, and how digital sovereignty became a more useful frame for thinking about platforms, data, and control.

How I went from thrifted hardware and confusion to a stable Proxmox base for the rest of my homelab.

A real-time, messy walkthrough of building a Proxmox homelab.

How my first DIY server kicked off a homelab journey.

Why privacy matters when data collection feels routine.

How a homelab project became an experiment in writing with AI.

Why building a homelab helps me understand the systems I rely on.

What happened when I connected an AI to my personal knowledge system.

Why we should reclaim our tools instead of letting them control us.

What gets lost when technology treats optimization as the default value.

Why not all knowledge can be reduced to written code.

Why backing up the web matters for memory, research, and history.

An introduction to my digital garden and how it works.

How to choose the right AI tool for your needs.

Why blanket bans on classroom tech often miss the real issue.

Why good systems blame design less and users less often.

Why education needs to adapt to a more complex, rapidly changing world.

How a digital commonplace book can evolve over time.

What humans still do better than computers and why it matters.

How the Feynman method can help you learn and explain ideas better.

A look at Twitter, protest, and the fragility of networked movements.

How creativity and innovation can be taught with technology.

Why schooling should prepare students for an uncertain future.

Questions for thinking critically about your own technology use.

How minimal computing can support equitable, sustainable scholarship.

The promise and risks of educational technology in today's classrooms.

What A Hacker's Mind reveals about systems, power, and exploitation.

How capitalism shapes what we build, buy, and believe about edtech.

A takeaway on how new technologies reshape society and power.

How trustworthy data shapes AI tools for detecting cyberattacks.

A fictional AI startup pitch about trust, safety, and authenticity online.

How AI is changing the work teachers do and what that means for education.

How AI pushes knowledge workers to balance manager and maker modes.

How Habitica turns habits and tasks into a gamified learning system.

What the post-COVID classroom changed and what still needs attention.

Why the addiction frame can distort how we talk about tech use.

How the pandemic changed the stakes for student privacy.

How the metaverse could reshape the internet and its risks.

How a student privacy program can deepen privacy expertise.

What you need to start mobile vlogging.

What it means to teach yourself TikTok as a networked learning project.

How to talk about mental health with care and clarity.

What experts think digital life may look like in 2035.

How memoir can help make sense of mental health and the creative process.

Why 'do no harm' can be an incomplete guide for action.

Why intersectionality matters in educational technology work.

How behaviorism still shapes classroom tools and student behavior.

How digital health systems can both improve care and create new risks.

A look at home automation goals after moving into a new house.

How to keep your digital life organized without losing the signal to noise.

What we should expect from technology as users and citizens.

Why the TILT survey matters for student experiences with instructional tech.

Why the TILT survey matters for faculty use of instructional tech.

How the TILT survey was developed and validated.

How educators can document and study instructional technology use.

Selected materials from my tenure and promotion packet.

How digital residue changes the way we remember people after they die.

How Twitter can support teaching, learning, and social connection.

Who owns course content after class ends, and what learning residue remains?

Why technology should support a strategy, not become the strategy.

How technology and social networks shape our views of death.

A caution against overusing the language of addiction when talking about tech use.

What happens when you step away from social media but not the web.

How screentime, habits, and balance shape digital well-being.

How activist texts can support learning and social change.

What comes next after receiving the Divergent Award during COVID.

A short guide to cultivating self-awareness through digital identity work.

How computational thinking helps people solve problems more systematically.

How to focus on what you can control in a post-COVID classroom.

In 2016, I joined the One Side Project Challenge. The project brought together a number of creators from around the globe, created a private space for idea…

A quick look at Peloton and the appeal of connected fitness.

A look at social media, screentime, and the mental health conversation.

How home classrooms change when learning moves online.

How to think about building ethical online communities.

How to talk with youth about privacy and security in digital spaces.

How to use GitHub Pages and Jekyll to host a podcast.

How digital life and well-being connect in future-facing research.

How to talk with children about tech, social media, and algorithms.

How digital storytelling can transform classroom learning.

Why anonymity can still matter in online spaces.

Why educational technologies often feel like black boxes.

How behaviorism still shapes digital literacy and classroom technology.

How screentime looks different for children and adolescents.

How child-computer interactions fit into early childhood learning.

How to think about temporal patterns in qualitative research.

How photos, tags, and technology can become tools of surveillance.

How assistive technology is adopted and supported in schools.

How technology shapes teaching, learning, and assessment.

Why ubiquitous tech should help us build better versions of ourselves.

How STEAM can help younger learners connect school and life.

A personal take on coffee, making, and the rituals that start the day.

Why backing up data should be part of your annual digital hygiene.

How logic models help clarify what grant proposals can do.

A review of BadgeChain's work over the past year and what's next.

Doug Belshaw's Badge Summit keynote through a blockchain lens.

Three steps to become a more digitally agile educator.

Welcome to the second round of BadgeChain Reads.

Welcome to the first round of BadgeChain Reads.

How podcasting uses RSS and why a website still matters.

What digital portfolios are and why they matter for learning and identity.

How blockchain might affect open badges in higher education.

A plain-language introduction to blockchain and its possible uses in education.

How to plan and deliver a concise Pecha Kucha presentation.

How digital portfolios, badges, and blockchain might connect.

How to help educators become more digitally literate.

Why stop-motion and Vine are useful ways to play with digital media.

An assignment prompt and example structure for sharing a teaching and research philosophy online.

A balanced response to calls for banning devices for children under 12.

How to make your content accessible across devices.

How Google Hangouts can enhance online discussion and collaboration.

Notes from the final day at the MA New Literacies Institute.

Notes from day two at the MA New Literacies Institute.

How educators can use Twitter to build a personal learning network.

A pocket guide to the tools and tricks I use to get work done.

How global youth navigate engagement in a digital age.

Notes on framing an open badge initiative for teachers.

How to balance solo and collaborative work while making online content.

How making, connected learning, and critical literacy support student agency.

What kinds of thinking happen when you make content online.

A keynote on the Common Core and new literacies.

Why inquiry matters in teaching, learning, and educational technology.

A backyard rocket project and what it shows about learning.

Why screencasts work well for online teaching and learning.

How visual analogies can help explain teacher growth.

How literacy and technology overlap in classroom practice.

How online content construction expands beyond online reading comprehension.

How blended learning changes when and how instructors and students interact.

A call for chapter proposals on writing and technology.

How my first MOOC shaped my thinking about blended learning.

Why 'hack' has become a bad word in some professional spaces.

What students and teachers owe each other when using educational technology.

A quick test of Storify and the role of curiosity in trying tools.

A reflection on teacher responsibility when using educational technologies.

A reflection on teacher responsibility when adopting educational technology.

We are quickly approaching the week of festivities for the Massachusetts New Literacies Institute 2012.

How Google Forms can be used to build simple online surveys.

How elementary students can build research and media literacy skills.

A quick look at cloud storage, backup, and Google Drive.

How administrators can use technology with more care and context.

How to create and curate a stronger online identity and brand.

How hyperconnected life shapes the literate lives of Millennials.

How to scaffold young learners as they search and sift online information.

A follow-up reflection on raising a digital native.

How a digital coursepack can support classroom learning.

How acceptable use policies shape classroom technology decisions.

My article review and study design task for comprehensive exams.

Cal Newport

Tim Wu

Nicholas Carr

Dan Davies

Alexis Madrigal

Noah Eaton

David Golumbia

Yuval Noah Harari

Roderic N Crooks

Shannon Vallor

Gaia Bernstein

Reid Hoffman

Bruce Schneier

Balaji Srinivasan

Daniel Greene

Steven Levy

Yuval Noah Harari

Hannah Fry

Anya Kamenetz

Thomas L. Friedman

Adam Greenfield

Michael P. Lynch

Cathy O'Neil

Ernest Cline

Nate Silver

John Scalzi

Mark Russinovich

Michael Lewis

Walter Isaacson

James Gleick

Douglas Thomas, John Seely Brown

John Scalzi

Timothy Ferriss

Neil Gaiman

Tad Williams

Journal article · Garcia, Merideth; Marlatt, Rick; McDermott, Maureen; O’Byrne, W Ian. (2021). Today Is the Tomorrow We Should Have Prepared for Yesterday: Rebuilding Our Classrooms to Facilitate Student-Centered, Teacher-Sustaining, Tech-Supported Education. Voices from the Middle.

Journal article · O'Byrne, W Ian; Radakovic, Nenad; Hunter-Doniger, Tracey; Fox, Madison; Kern, Reggie; Parnell, Stephanie. (2018). Designing Spaces for Creativity and Divergent Thinking: Pre-Service Teachers Creating Stop Motion Animation on Tablets. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology.

Journal article · O'Byrne, William Ian; Houser, Katherine; Stone, Ryan; White, Mary. (2018). Digital storytelling in early childhood: Student illustrations shaping social interactions. Frontiers in Psychology.