More Toys for Schools

A Good Idea?
Please tell me our education system will improve with this (what I consider 'questionable') investment! Since I am a proud owner of Apple stock I'm all over the idea of more hardware/app sales and thus profit for APPL. But really, does ANYONE really believe the right way to improve education is to buy more stuff? How about investing in good teachers, getting rid of the rubber rooms of the union-protected lousy teachers, and stop teaching revisionist history? Education has become such a political tool that our so-called leaders in education believe they can spend as they wish and look to our politicians to support bond issues to raise taxes. Well, here in my home town, that strategy AIN'T WORKIN' NO MORE! We have a brand new school which we found the money to build (capital) but no money to run it year after year (operational). Now don't get me wrong. I believe a school was needed in this town. But there's a right way and a wrong way to plan, build and run a school. Unfortunately, the approach used here was short-sighted. Every BUSINESS person knows you must budget for both pools of money to run a business. But our politically-centric school leadership think they can go to the well year after year to get more money to keep schools open. Here, our teachers are struggling to perform with outdated laptops, the technology group can barely keep the servers up, and the on-line resources are compromised by outdated processes that do not reflect the true power of technology - that is, we have simply automated paper-based processes and procedures. Before we invest more in technology "toys" lets leverage the existing technology investments to make the most use of the technology we do have. Further, think about this: Our school technology departments are challenged to keep things running as it is; if the local public schools were to go the route of introducing a new "tool", the tech folks would have yet another platform to support. Does this make sense?

Paperless?
This article promotes the idea of "paperless" as a money-saving justification for this abuse of taxes. Really? How long have we had computers in business? Can we really claim any benefit of a paperless trend? Does it work? I work with 20 to 30 different companies every year and can tell you the idea of paperless is a joke. Why can't our so-called ivory tower academics (and real-world-challenged politicians) look to real-life data in business and see that their fantasy of ROI based on a paperless initiative is not supported by the facts. And, by the way, as a student of training, instruction, and integrated organizational learning, I submit that paperless may not be the best way for our students to learn. You and I know it comes down to the integrity, skills, and commitment of the individual teacher. I know all of you can recall those "special" instructors and teachers in your lifelong educational journey that have inspired you, mentored you, guided you, broadened your horizons, and opened your eyes. That's where our investments must be focused.

Refocus
Every day I work with technology clients to help them make good decisions related to technology. I can tell you that, more often than not, technology is NOT the answer. 90% of my profession is dealing with the "people" side of technology - that "soft stuff" that really makes a difference. Technology, as a solution, is not a solution at all; only a means to automate the solutions and processes that were established by PEOPLE. In this case the people component of the equation is the TEACHER and the PUPIL.

(NOTE: At the risk of repercussions from the academic community, I have taken the liberty - via BCC - this message to a few teachers and school administrative folks)

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New York orders thousands of iPads for schools

“The New York City public schools have ordered more than 2,000 iPads, for $1.3 million; 300 went to Kingsbridge International High School in the Bronx, or enough for all 23 teachers and half of the students to use at the same time.”

This reflects a trend across the US education sector which is attempting to find a way to go paperless. Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on December 20 to students and teachers in two humanities classes. The eventual aim is to provide iPods to 1,100 of its students .

Apple is boosting the trend, working with textbook publishers on instructional programs and sponsoring iPad workshops for administrators and teachers.

The tablets are used to replace textbooks, as correspondence machines, and as a means to create and return assignments. The notion is that by using tools kids love, pupil attainement takes a boost, use of such tools is also thought to boost outside school learning activity.

However, as the New York Times observes, “Educators, for instance, are still divided over whether initiatives to give every student a laptop have made a difference academically.”

Some argue that the iPad may have the whizz-bang factor you might seek to impress children, but the real issues of teaching remain. Others counter the device is a powerful and versatile tool that can be of use in education, take this book-length analysis of best practises in using iPods in Italian language learning, for example.

Similar reactions greeted the introduction of the iPod into classrooms. Then an Australian research project at the Victoria Department of Education found use of the devices generated, “Improvements in all curriculum areas and also in behavior, motivation and responsibility by the end of the project.”

According to teachers, half the students reported that they learned better by doing things and liked to be active learners.

The size and portability of the device also boost usage, and that’s particularly interesting in light of Forrester’s recent report claiming adult iPad users may rush to upgrade to iPad 2.0, passing their existing device onto their children.

Multimedia savviness also boosts the appeal of these devices: the ability to pinch and zoom into visual assets was part of the secret behind the success of the iPod touch.

Chris Van Wingerden, vice president at dominKnow once explained, “The ability to zoom in and out of web content means that the experience of taking a course online is so much more intuitive than the experience on many other mobile devices.”

Following a small iPad experiment, Scott Wolfe, the principal of Fouth Mountain Elementary School observes, “I think this could very well be the biggest thing to hit school technology since the overhead projector.”

Apple meanwhile remains Europe’s biggest education supplier on strength of its joined-up approach to solutions provision in the sector.

“Apple is committed to education, we have a dedicated and experienced team, and we provide not just product, but solutions,” Apple’s director of EMEA education markets, Herve Marchet has previously stressed. “I believe we are relevant to the market.”