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My school, like many others, is facing the need to replace aging computers, printers, and other technology. Much of the equipment came through government programs to wire classrooms and provide computers for classrooms. Where do we go from here? Where do we get the money to update our equipment?
Recently I came across an article from the George Lucas Educational Foundation's Edutopia magazine, "Tech Made Easy" subtitled "It's not all about gadgets and gear." The article's author, Todd Oppenheimer quotes Tom Snyder, the author of The One Computer Classroom who states that if we had embraced technology in our schools in the 1980s we'd all be using Commodore 64s!
Mr. Oppenheimer makes the case for teaching more critical thinking and problem solving skills and less technology. He points out that most computer skills and software applications we teach our students will be long obsolete by the time they reach the workforce.
Several months ago I helped one of my nephews do some research on what college courses he needed to take to prepare him to work in the field of computer animation for a company such as Pixar or Dreamworks. We visited their web sites. Their advice for students: learn traditional drawing and design skills. Sure, they wanted people who had basic computer skills but more importantly they wanted problem solvers.
My aha! moment: instead of struggling to acquire banks of bottom-of-the-line computers for our classrooms, why not get one or two powerful computers for each classroom? They would run the programs our students need and, because we aren't buying computers with minimal features, last for a few years. Alphasmarts or similar input devices could supplement the classroom computer to allow students to input text (ideas) into a computer. Then spend less time teaching the technology and more working on critical thinking skills!
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