How about we continue building on this mobile one-to-one computing wave by rethinking the mobile laptop cart? You know those big clunky carts that get wheeled from room to room, inevitably showing up with only 7 or 8 of the 10 laptops actually working, and of those, only 4 or 5 able to get an internet connection. Well, what if we saved a boatload of money and instead purchased “IPod Pods” or “Pods of IPods.” I envision 6 to 8 IPod Touches in a traveling case, complete with power strip for charging and a laptop for syncing. Teachers would be able to check out a “Pod” and use them for authentic student inquiry (or curriculum-based inquiry if you’re still a little cautious of trusting your kids on the internet) or for small group instruction or remediation using the plethora of free Apps out there on the market. Pods get passed from teacher to teacher until funding permits a set for each classroom. I’m going to pitch the idea to the folks at Apple and see if they would be interested in designing a scaled down, passable version of the Bretford Syncing Cart. I’d like to see if they could develop a package that is a little more ergonomic than my IPod Pod bag with a bunch of USB wires and extension cords. I think I might be on to something….
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