I’ve read five of the case studies now (all the ones without videos. Downloading videos without a broadband connection is generally a waste of time).

As individual studies they’re all exciting and whizzy but, as a whole, I find them rather soulless. They’re all about the equipment, they’re not about the people or the learning. Or, rather, the people and the learning are there, but they’re buried under details of how many PDAs are available and how many interactive whiteboards there are.

And the administration seems to get mixed up with the learning – it’s good to have a lot of computers because then you can do registers on line, and contact parents if children aren’t there, and you can teach the students as well. This seems to be confusing two very different things.

Some of these projects will have horrendous operating costs: in-service training, student training, software licences, equipment upgrades, maintenance contracts.

Perhaps I’d better stop looking at them en masse and start looking at them individually to see where there is genuine innovation and where there is just technology.

Gill commented:
Hi Rebecca,

I think it is very easy to get caught up with the excitement of the new technology and to forget the underlying reasons for using it in the first place. I’m having to fight that temptation all the time!

I’ve also agreed to do this H807 activity. Wonder when I’ll get the materials?

Or do I have them already – perhaps lost amongst the electronic clutter of my inbox.
cheers
Gill
Comment from euphloozie – 05/12/05 19:26