Internet or no Internet? Two Schools Approach Educational Technology
NPR has a great story (embedded below) about two schools and their approach to educational technology. One school in Virginia opted to buy HP Minis, which don’t have a CD/DVD drive but do connect to the Internet. The Internet connection allows administrators to share necessary software over a network. The Internet connection also allows teachers and students to use necessary video tutorials and online educational technology, i.e. typing websites, to teach. A myriad of educational technology is available to students via the Internet.
The other school in New Jersey opted for NEOs, which, like the HP minis, are small computers. They have all the necessary word processing software installed. The problem is that they do not connect to the Internet. The lack of connection, administrators say, will prevent students from distracting things like IM. Most parents and board members did not want an Internet connection.
Using the NEOs decontextualizes learning. If a school is going to encourage educational technology it should be done with the Internet. What’s the point of using the NEO when a student is going to use something like the mini or another laptop at home? Students are not going to have access to NEO software at home, so why should they get comfortable with it? Wouldn’t they be better equipped for the future if they know where to find the best information and educational technology on the Internet?
To aid students in finding the most relevant sites for their education, all a school would have to do is create a webpage that hyperlinks all the relevant sites that teachers and students can use for their educational technology needs. In this way, students and teachers can work on what they’re working on at home too. Teachers can also set up wikis, forums, facebook, or twitter to collaborate on class projects and discuss ideas all the while building up their writing skills. All of the online tools are applicable outside of the classroom. There’s no good reason to dissever the Internet from education.
Here is the story:
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