[Yr7-10it] Re: [Oz-teachers] Teacher & School ICT wish-lists (3)

[BROWN. Jeananne]

I'm absolutely in agreement with this idea.
My 2c input  would be that I think teachers need to take the same responsibility as students.
If you are a mechanic you own your own toolkit, a chef has own knives - how does it work that teachers come to work empty-handed and expect the workplace to supply their toolkit?

My experience is that there are always some teachers who own everything they use, some who own nothing and some in between.

I think we need to rise to our own expectations.

Jeananne



From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Peter Ruwoldt
Sent: Wednesday, 25 February 2009 10:14 AM
To: Professional community for teachers
Cc: oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au; english at edulists.com.au; offtopic at edulists.com.au; yr7-10it at edulists.com.au
Subject: [Yr7-10it] Re: [Oz-teachers] Teacher & School ICT wish-lists (3)

--
I with you Ken
lets do it


ken price, kenjprice at gmail.com<http://gmail.com> 24th Feb 09:35:25 EST 2009  [Yr7-10it]

I think I'd try for a different approach.

Rather than extend the current model of schools providing computers to
students (an approach that began in the 70s and 80s when most families
did not have a computer, and where schools were the only practical owners
of ICT for education), I think I'd hope for a country where society
expects each student to have their own personal computng device as a
future member of a country with a 21st century economy.

They would NOT have this device given to them by the school, but would
own it themselves in the same way they own a uniform, books etc.  They
would own it and thus have the complete responsibility for ensuring it
works, charging its battery, updating its software, doing what else it
needs to keep functioning,  and carrying it with them. Just as they now
do with mobile phones, which seem to work remarkably well without the
assistance of armies of school IT support staff. And kids in general
don't vandalise or corrupt their phone, they reserve that activity for
things owned by others.

Kids in struggling financial situations would be covered in the same way
as they are now for books etc.

Before people scream in horror at the cost - I bought a name-brand
netbook at Christmas time from a large national chain store for under
$300 including their extended warranty. I think this would last maybe 2
to 3 years in an educational setting, so that's about $2 to $3 a week.

After tax breaks this drops to a bit over a dollar a week or so.  It's
not out of the question for most families, and for those who find it
impossible it's within the realms of a federal fund to bring in some
equity. Well, far more realistic than giving schools the liability of
computers that they have to maintain.

As schools won't own these student-owned computers, they would have no
obligation to allocate resources to repair them. You break, you fix. Works
with mobile phones. In many ways, computers are the last thing schools
ought to own, as they present a management liability. There is a good
reason why fast-food restaurants and coffee shops increasingly provide
customers with broadband but not computers - who'd want to be responsible
for maintaining fleets of computers?

Schools/systems would be funded (and expected) to provide fast wireless
connectivity on site, storage and printing facilites, classroom facilites
(data projectors, etc) and maybe screens and keyboards for cases where
extended use might give rise to OHS issues.

It is interesting that most students find school connectivity to be worse
than what they get at home on even the cheapest broadband plan.

Possibly schools would have a small number of computers for specialised
tasks that are beyond the netbook type of device. And of course they'd
distribute educational sofware and provide online environments to support
learning within and outside the school. I think it goes without saying
that they would provide a reason for students to use their computers as
part of their education (if not, there is no purpose to this discussion).

Theft you say? Ok, microwave ovens used to be THE thing for burglars to
steal. This was because they were expensive and not everyone had one. Now,
no crim would bother with a microwave (car GPS devices are apparently the
big-ticket itme for petty crims now). I literally could not give away a
microwave oven recently - they are now cheap, abundant and hence not worth
stealing. So the theft problem is very likely to decline significantly as
portable computers become more ubiquitous.

The current technical support model could be swung across to support and
enhance infrastructure for learning instead of dealing with break/fix
problems.

Teachers? Maybe they would be given a computing device as part of their
employment.

More important though is that employers would require teachers to be able
to use it as part of their professional practice, as with most other
professions. No ifs, no buts.

If we are serious about the importance of ICT in education (as expounded
in the Learning in an online World etc publications) then how can we
accept people opting out of this aspect of pedagogy? It's as if you get a
spinal injury and go to a hospital and see an MRI machine there, but the
doctors tell you they don't believe in them or don't know how to use it.

Yes, this has PD imlpications, but at least the PD will be better used
than it has been in  the past 20-odd years, where much of the PD on ICT
use has not reached those who most need it.

Yes, this idea has flaws and would require a cultural shift. But cost-wise
it compares pretty well with other alternatives and might shift things
towards a sustainable learning culture which makes better use of ICT to
personalise and support learning, and which moves some of the obligations
off schools and frees them to do what they do best.

Might have some possibilites....  Ken (TASITE Tasmania)


--
Free and Open education for all

Peter Ruwoldt
Grant High School
Hosking Avenue
MOUNT GAMBIER  SA  5290

P. 08 87263128
F. 08 87250173

ruwoldtp at granths.sa.edu.au<mailto:ruwoldtp at granths.sa.edu.au>
http://www.watiwara.com
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