New tools in schools, such as Ultra Mobile PCs and Tablet PCs, bring with them options unavailable before and without them. Educators are finding that these tools make ideas seem possible that were considered outside the pail previously.
One such option is the verticle integration of electronic tools in each school and schooling system.
Imagine, students, teachers, and administrators using mobile PCs to learn, communicate, receive instruction, monitor learning data live from remote places, and complete other tasks so that learning rates may increase for each student in every lesson.
Impossible? It sounds far-fetched by existing visions of schooling. But, maybe it’s not so remote when considering the potential of verticle uses of mobile PCs and their to-be-released replacements in schooling systems.
Certainly educators will have to adjust present tasks to make it happen. Maybe it will take some time to work out details.
But, just imagine everyone in the school system using compatible mobile electronic tools in order to effect the single most important reason for schools to exist: increasing student learning rates directly and promptly.
Imagine the superintendent and all other personnel knowing at the touch of a screen what each student learns at any moment and making regular administrative and instructional decisions in ways to increase each student’s learning.
Lora discusses the option of UMPCs hitting verticle markets. In short, she means that students, teachers and some administrators in one school or school system would all use the same or compatible mobile and ultra mobile PCs.
…I can see specialized UMPCs for these uses (education, … for example) …
She infers two interesting questions educators must address when adopting mobile PCs in schools. I don’t remember seeing empirical data about direct answers to these questions.
First, will educators use the same machines and software as students? Theoretically, the answer to this question rests on decisions by each local board of education/trustees. So, the task of manufacturers, software developers and publishers as well as venture educators is to show board members advantages to students by school personnel using, for example, pen-based mobile PCs.
This will not be an easy sell. School administrators, unions, and school support groups have the ears of board members. The mobile PC industry must find ways to persuade board members of the potential of mobile PCs for increasing student learning rates. Theoretically, objective empirical data demonstrating the power of UMPCs to increase student learning rates should overcome distractions others might offer.
Second, how will details be figured out in order for mobile PCs to increase learning rates consistently. Most educators will have to calculate risks and work out details on the fly. That’s what venture educators and entrepreneurs do. That’s their way of operating. That’s in part what separates them from others.
The task for board members will be to put venture educators in key places with sufficient authority to make risky decisions, such as organizing a school system so that student learning is the primary dependent variable of instructional and administrative decision making.
Here’s a simple example of an administrative purchasing question that affects and maybe effects student learning rates.
Which is easier for educators, to require each of 1,000 students, teachers, and administrators to find, acquire and set up their own UMPC or Tablet PC, or for educators to arrange for the acquisition and set-up for 1,000 identical units to pass on to school users through assignments/check-outs, sales, rents, leases, etc.?
Such questions are difficult to answer in terms of influences on student learning rates. Empirical research to address such questions takes years to provide levels of confidence in one answer over another.
Some school purchasing agents will answer such questions without direction from higher ups.
Therefore, boards that decide to implement a verticle deployment of mobile PCs in a school system will face uncomfortable risks, personnel turn-over, and political detractions. They will make some mistakes, and maybe will assist students to increase their learning rates.
Over 100 schools worldwide have various levels of mobile PCs in classrooms or in administrative uses. It seems prudent that board of education members will want to know how these schools have authorized uses of mobile PCs and how they appear to influence student learning rates.
The next step for those who imagine future schooling is to outline ways to insure the verticle integration of mobile PCs and other electronic tools in schools increases student learning rates.
I wonder, will mobile PC manufacturers, software developers and publishers work with board members and educators to make this integration happen soon?