Do you think that the integration of technology is really a racket to make money for business? Does movements to use more technology in classrooms have our students' best interests in mind?
"Who really benefits from putting high-tech gadgets in classrooms?"
This article highlights my own concerns over technology in the classroom. It is the very weakness I described in paragraph 1 of my "Man in the Mirror" post. I fear the use of technology if we are only integrating it for the sake of saying how "high-tech" we are. If there is a legitimate use for the tech, then count me in.
I think the author is a little harsh on Apple. I think it is important to remember that no textbook publisher is in the business solely of the joy of enlightening the mind. They are generating a product to sell to educators. I don't see the author bashing Houghton-Mifflin for making minor revisions to their product and selling it as "new and improved".
That being said, electronic text books have ups and downs. I think they are great for non-linear learning discussed in the Digital Divide (hyperlinks and the like). I don't think they are useful for studying. You cannot rapidly flip between pages, or hold the book open to two pages for comparison etc. I think they would be a distraction, used for games or social networks.
If we are willing to invest the kind of money needed to get every child a laptop or iPad, then we should be considering how we can use the money to improve the quality of the educators. The expectations for teachers to be mothers/ fathers, mentors, social workers, educators and be accountable to the public for their students' performance (without any onus on the parents) are approaching unreasonable. When you ask people to do unreasonable things, you are expected to pay them for it.
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