Controling the controllers
Valve
Originally uploaded by sigma. Who then really controls the controllers?
You would be surprised if you really knew who controls the Internet filters. I would be more concerned if you didn't care or didn't really want to know!
What of the graduate teacher who does some fantastic stuff in the classroom using their own digital projector and a Wireless USB Broadband Internet Modem plugged into their Apple Macintosh notebook computer ... working alone and isolated from the school network, bypassing the school wireless network proxy and filters.
She is in direct control of her lesson and her files. She can access the Web2.0 tools that she needs. Even school sourced files can be accessed using the remote access tools we typically provide for home users. She is professional about reviewing the resources used in the classroom and works hard to cater to the needs of the lesson whilst protecting the interests of students.
Compare this trend with the wireless revolution in telephony in our homes as we we abandon fixed lines for mobile phones. This freedom isn't new, and I am observing that teachers are taking steps to regain this freedom again.
Perhaps we should not be surprised to see the ICT edifice that education departments have carefully built over the past decade, slowly crumble into irrelevance as we all discover better ways of working in the classroom.