The fact of the matter is, technology has an ever increasing role in the education system. So I found Adam Bellow’s blog post on Edutopia to be quite an interesting read.
The highlights from the blog post for me were:
Make sure tech training is available on a continuous basis. That is part of the impetus behind me starting this blog – I wanted to have a place where I could share tech tips and tricks with colleagues.
But going beyond the blog, schools need to foster an environment where learning and questioning are welcomed.
Another takeaway from Adam Bellow’s blog post – computer labs are relics from the past. They are a waste of space and they send the wrong message to staff and students.
Rather than having a computer lab, develop your school’s mobile capacity. Build carts of computers – computers on wheels – COWS. Or have sets of mobile devices (iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets or what have you) available to be used by staff and students in classrooms. Devices that can and will be used in a variety of settings.
And everybody’s favourite – how are we going to pay for all these tech “toys”. The fact is, there are many affordable resources for staff and students. Chromebooks are a very affordable option to get devices into the hands of people quite quickly.
Then there are other more creative and “out of the box” options like Raspberry Pi computers. I recently bought a Pi-topCEED for $99 – a little tiny computer built into a 14″ HD screen.
Since then I have purchased another Raspberry Pi kit that I will be building into a the cutest little desktop computer. For less than $100.
The Raspberry Pi concept has the added benefit where students do not only bring their own device, they can actually build their own device!! That is empowering for learners!
And finally, Adam Bellow says something I have been repeating since forever; USE Twitter to learn about free resources and to develop your personal learning network.
I encourage you to read the rest of Bellow’s blog post on Eduopia. And follow Eduopia on Twitter!!
*I have written this blog post on my iPhone so I will check the formatting later when I get a larger screen in my hands.