Connected

Jennifer Jones tweeted a link to this video this morning, and I think it's a fine example of what a connected organization, in this case Abilene Christian University, and connected teaching and learning,  can look like. 

We're getting to a stage in the learning game where we should be thinking about ways to help students create connections to each other and to their learning.  Handing students and teacher a device that connects students and serves as a platform for the teaching and learning in a system just makes sense, even though it's not always a socially or culturally or politically accepted idea.  That needs to change.  Soon.  I feel like the political climate for 1:1 (or even 1:3, or 1:10) continues to improve - but we're still in a transitional place between analog and digital instruction. 
    I can't say that the iPhone is THE device - I couldn't imagine writing anything of substance on the iPhone or any other tool without a reasonable keyboard - but I understand why they featured it, as I do think it's a game-changer, in terms of its functionality and ease of use.  Of course, there are plenty of other game-changers coming to the table at the moment.

Comments

[Jen]

Thanks for linking to me! I saw this video in a presentation yesterday and was surprised I hadn't seen it before. Earlier this week I was in a budget meeting where they were discussing purchasing new laptop carts for one of our auto collision program. A red flag went up for me. It just seemed like the wrong approach for their needs. I would love to see a hand held solution like this. I also have a diesel mechanic instructor who's been using clickers for self-paced instruction. I think something like the iPhone would work better. I'm open to any device, I just think the mobile devices with web access in the classroom are wonderful for so many applications.