Counting on the Netbook Abacus
Abacus by allspice1 Bryn Jones noted on the eChalk list that if you are a student in NSW DET you have to use a Netbook - no choice and that if you are a WA DET student you are not allowed to use a Netbook - no choice. In VIC DEECD, things are more muddled. Not a criticism of anyone but it doesn't bode well for National Curriculum how states can come to totally different Netbook conclusions from the same starting information.
I wonder if some are scared that schools might do something different with their technology funding for eLearning? .. hmm, I that has already happened. Suppose this was about the introduction of calculators:
We would have a state group digging in around a contract signed to deliver commercial electronic cash tills to every student, a state group importing millions of oddly circular shaped slide rulers that use a novel calculation system based on natural logarithms supplied in a booklet of tables, a state group insisting that we should only use ergonomic built devices with non-interchangeable AAA batteries and volatile memory, poor school teachers making their own abacus with beads and wire, confused parents scratching their heads whilst wondering what happened to pencil and paper whilst smart students sneak into school, cheap solar powered models they bought from the local supermarket.
We loose so much when we are just focused on what students and schools should not do .. rather than engaging with research to help determine what can help work best, provide seed grants to stimulate innovation and unbiased training to help educators make well informed and practical choices. Perhaps some state bodies have lost the plot and are digging in to enforce a centralist control model that suits their needs, not the flexible learning spaces many of us are now building for our students. Whilst it is hard to predict any technology trend, it is foolish to pretend that schools not well placed to make good decisions about how to spend money to meet their local needs.
Nobody has a monopoly on a good idea.