In the 1970’s computers entered the consumer market, and hobbyists began purchasing computers. By 1982, personal computers could be purchased for less than $1000, and amateur enthusiasts (including children) were writing their own programs to satisfy their own interests and curiosities. In that year, Joseph Deken, a statistician working at Stanford University who had received Read More
One focus of professional development relative to information and computer technology (ICT) in schools has been managing it. When computers first arrived, and machines were stand-alone devices, individual educators were able to manage the computers in their classrooms with independence; software was purchased for single machines and printers and similar peripherals were connected to specific Read More
I have been workin with faculty who are trying to learn to use a new web service recently. They have been growing frustrated as the interface is not intuitive (and it is poorly designed, but don’t tell anyone I said that). Many have said they would stop using the service if they could but they Read More
Related to the digital generations’ interest in and desire to customize technologies is the rate at which the digital generations adopt new technologies. Members of these generations are willing to buy new devices as soon as they arrive on the market and they are enthusiastic consumers of innovative new devices. They both become users of Read More
I’m reviewing some recent observations I have made of lessons in which technology was used for education. One teachers explained her what she sees when she walks past some classes as they use the new Chromebooks for the math program that is recommended by the school district: You go in and see all of the Read More
In the previous sections, an oversimplified version of technology decision-making has been presented. Cost (a very important consideration for reasonable decisions) and computing capacity (also important in consideration for ensuring sufficient computing is available) have been identified as the factors relevant to purchase decisions. While cost and capacity may be the dominant factors when deciding Read More
Another common negotiation is between the available capacity and the nature of the information task in the curriculum. In situations in which the complexity of the information task is beyond the capacity of the devices, teachers may reconcile the complexity of the tasks with the capacity of the devices. Consider video editing, which is a Read More
When making purchase decisions, IT professionals must negotiate cost and capacity. In general, devices that have greater capacity are more expensive; this can be seen in comparing the cost and capacity of devices with full operating systems (most expensive and greatest capacity) with Internet-only devices (least expensive and least capacity). There is an inverse relationship Read More
School and technology leaders have an obligation to provide access to sufficient digital devices so that teaching and learning needs can be met. Sufficiency is a complex concept grounded in: The number of devices that are available (too few impedes access); The nature of the devices (to little capacity impedes sufficiency); The manner in which Read More
Sherry Turkle, a sociologist from MIT studied computer users’ sense of identity early in the days of Internet-mediated communication. She observed that many users at the time were creating multiple online identities and that many users were exploring different senses of identity through those online spaces, and Turkel (1995) began her book Life on the Read More