| November 17, 2008 |
| A new paradigm for elementary laptops |
8:13 PM |
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 Tonight at dinner, my wife asked my 3.5 year old son, "what does Daddy do?" His response: "Daddy makes it so that when the kids need more computers, he gets them."
Well nothing underscores that one aspect of my job description better than our incoming order of Dell Inspiron Mini laptops (pictured). Yes, that's a real pencil next to that laptop!
After an extensive 2 weeks of testing in classrooms across the district, and with a price point of 50%, we were able to secure 48 minis per elementary school. Not only are we able to double the number of laptops available to our elementary students, but the characteristics of this particular laptop offer exciting capabilities for use in our classrooms:- The small size allows students to have it on their desk
plus have other materials share that desk space. - The light weight allows students to carry it to their desk.
- We can put them in a laptop cart that weighs 67% less
than the existing (heavy) carts. - Its solid-state memory and lack of CD drive should allow for
maximum battery life.
These bullets all contribute to the exciting shift in elementary student use of laptops in the classroom. A more mobile set of units is more likely to make the trip between rooms and it is more likely to be pulled out and utilized if it's lightweight and holds a battery charge fairly well.
Tune back in 2 years to see how we do on that battery one :)
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| November 10, 2008 |
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As I began to read Steve Dembo's Blog (Steve is a Discovery Educator I hold in great regard), about how to build a better blog, I was hit by a wave of guilt surrounding my lack of recent activity on this blog.
It's not quite New Year's Eve yet, but I think it's a great time for a resolution that I will become more active with this blog. In exchange for my resolution, why don't you also resolve to post a comment and let me know what's on your mind?
I saw this commercial while I was at the TRETC Conference last week. It made me smile, but it also made me take stock of how easy it can be to focus on today's technology instead of tomorrow's technology in our technology integration efforts. Today's kids will soon look back on current technology much as we "older folk" look back at punchcards and data tapes.
The ever-present challenge in working with technology in the K-12 education space is to keep driving towards integration of both today's and tomorrow's tools with instruction. I think the steps we're taking in bringing web 2.0 tools into our classrooms is a great start. It's a goal that I celebrate and embrace.
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| Blog By: |
CStengel   |
| Blog Type: |
Public (Moderated) |
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This is a public blog for my posts and thoughts surrounding technology used in the Mt. Lebanon School District.
Sometimes I'll have things and events I'd like to share and sometimes it will just be my thoughts about what is to come.
As always, please never hesistate to email me with feedback. I look forward to hearing from you! ...Chris |
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Where did the original FarFromBlöggin go?
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