Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

How long before everyone has some type of wireless portable computer.

MIT is currently working on developing a laptop for under $100. The intent is to provide 3rd world countries with technology.

A High School in Arizona is replacing textbooks with laptops. Every student gets a laptop and the cost isn’t going to be significantly higher as the cost of textbooks for all classes will exceed the costs of the laptops.

Duke University is giving every freshman an iPod. The iPod comes preloaded with university information and can be used to record lectures and yes, download and listen to music.

My belief is that at some point and it may be sooner than we think, we need 1-1 computing for all students. One to one portable as well. Be it a PDA, laptop or some other technology, it’s coming. I hope we don’t get caught sleeping and miss out on providing students with the kind of education they need as they enter the 21st century.

Any thoughts?

The power of the internet is hard to understand sometimes.

Working with students at King George on Wednesday, they were determined to achieve perfection. As we were shooting segments for their news broadcast, they kept wanting to redo scenes over and over again. I finally had to tell them we only have so much time and they would have to settle for something less than perfection.

Why were they so concerned about the quality of their work? Are they simply perfectionists? Are they this way about all their work?

I think knowing they will have a larger audience makes all the difference. A website called fanfiction illustrates this point well.

Why worry about work that only one person will see, when you can share you work with thousands?

This is what the King George students were essentially telling me.