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Thursday, May 5, 2011

ISO the "Perfect Device"

So what is the perfect device to use with kids in a school setting?  Let me ask you this: What is the perfect device for you?  I often to ask my teachers to reflect on their own use of technology when thinking about what they need to be doing with their students.  Specifically, "How do YOU use technology?"  Shouldn't our efforts to "educate" children about the use of technology mirror our own use?  I mean seriously, when is the last time you used Pixie?  More realistically, when is the last time you had to be a good consumer of information as you surfed that huge sea of information known as the Internet? But I digress...

Maybe when we look for that perfect device, we should remember once again how we use technology.  The bottom line is there isn't a perfect device.  I use my IPhone away from a wireless network, my MacBook as I cruise through the building, an IPad in a data meeting with teachers, my Dell desktop when I have to do most things related to productivity, and a HP here at home where I post most of my blogs (blogspot is blocked by my school's filtering software-ironic). Isn't this the same thing we need to be doing with kids, teaching them to choose the platform, machine, device, software they need based on the work at hand?

When I started thinking along these lines I came to the realization that it's not about Dells, or android, or Apples (although they still rule in terms with Apps and ease of use), but it's about using technology, whatever that might look like like, whenever and wherever it is needed, to enhance learning.

Now that I got that off my chest, I'm off to play some Angry Birds.

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