It seems as though everytime we turn around there is a new gadget that we want. We save money, and finnally when we buy the gadget and bring it home - there is something better. The world in which we live in now days is changing at a very rapid pace. This holds true in the Education World as well.
Should we buy laptops or should we by IPADS? I can tell you that every school in the nation has asked themselves this in the last year or two. I know that some schools chose laptops and others have broke down and bought IPADS. Whichever a school chooses, you can bet that it takes a big chunk of the budget. Griggs County Central has purchased both IPADS and Computers.
I have never personally been a fan of buying something that just comes out. I like to wait for the second generation. Usually by this time - the company has had a chance to work out any bugs that came out with the first release. This year we bought IPADS for our teachers. We are banking on the fact that they will help facilitate better instruction. Not that we have an instruction problem at all, but the possibilities with IPADs aiding instruction are almost limitless. We hope that in the future we can start putting some IPADs into the hands of our students. We need to understand however, that having IPADs just to have IPADs will not get us anywhere. We need to look at the IPAD as an extention to student learning and a tool that can help bring out creativity and imaginaiton in our students.
It's not just IPADs and Apple Products. Promethean Boards are getting more advanced. Touch Screen - Gorilla Glass is starting to show up everywhere. This is what you essentially use on IPADs, and other touch-screen devices...................I think :(. I'm not a tech expert, but sometimes I pretend.
So when should a school decide to buy and when should a school decided wait? This is a golden question. Complacency is a bad word in my vocabulary - so I've never been a fan of waiting, however schools need to do a feasibility study first. Schools need to ask the question...how will this affect our students. Schools should ask this in every decision that is make. If the question yields more positives than negatives and the money is available - it's a no brainer. If students are going to need it when they leave school - then we need to give them the training before it's too late. After all - our job is to prepare children for what comes next right?
So bottom line - technology contiues to grow at rapid pace. If we don't stop to check it out - we may just leave our students behind. We don't always have to jump on a technology just because its new, but what we do need to do - is to be open to change.
That is all for now - I'm going to go check out the IPhone 5 - I heard its pretty cool.
Should we buy laptops or should we by IPADS? I can tell you that every school in the nation has asked themselves this in the last year or two. I know that some schools chose laptops and others have broke down and bought IPADS. Whichever a school chooses, you can bet that it takes a big chunk of the budget. Griggs County Central has purchased both IPADS and Computers.
I have never personally been a fan of buying something that just comes out. I like to wait for the second generation. Usually by this time - the company has had a chance to work out any bugs that came out with the first release. This year we bought IPADS for our teachers. We are banking on the fact that they will help facilitate better instruction. Not that we have an instruction problem at all, but the possibilities with IPADs aiding instruction are almost limitless. We hope that in the future we can start putting some IPADs into the hands of our students. We need to understand however, that having IPADs just to have IPADs will not get us anywhere. We need to look at the IPAD as an extention to student learning and a tool that can help bring out creativity and imaginaiton in our students.
It's not just IPADs and Apple Products. Promethean Boards are getting more advanced. Touch Screen - Gorilla Glass is starting to show up everywhere. This is what you essentially use on IPADs, and other touch-screen devices...................I think :(. I'm not a tech expert, but sometimes I pretend.
So when should a school decide to buy and when should a school decided wait? This is a golden question. Complacency is a bad word in my vocabulary - so I've never been a fan of waiting, however schools need to do a feasibility study first. Schools need to ask the question...how will this affect our students. Schools should ask this in every decision that is make. If the question yields more positives than negatives and the money is available - it's a no brainer. If students are going to need it when they leave school - then we need to give them the training before it's too late. After all - our job is to prepare children for what comes next right?
So bottom line - technology contiues to grow at rapid pace. If we don't stop to check it out - we may just leave our students behind. We don't always have to jump on a technology just because its new, but what we do need to do - is to be open to change.
That is all for now - I'm going to go check out the IPhone 5 - I heard its pretty cool.
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