Karl Fisch, I Think I Love You

Karl Fischer just set up a pretty awesome system for his student's 1:1 netbooks. I was briefly put off by his warning about the post length, but it was worth the read.

What excites me most about what Karl has done is that he shared it all, and he got most of what he did from someone else, Jim Klein, who is all about the sharing.

I love the idea of collaboration on this level.

I am also excited about all the freeware Karl was able to incorporate. I think this is a sign of change (I know I'm planning on sitting down with some people tomorrow to see what we can do with this for our students)--I think many districts and their students are held back because all the things they need cost a fortune.

Districts spend mints implementing technology that is out of date by the time it's rolled out, outsiders are paid to come in and train teachers how to use tools they don't all have, and there's no money for updates or upkeep.

In my building, teachers are being refused projectors because there isn't money for the expensive PoleVault systems to go with them, and not using projectors they have because there is no money to buy replacement bulbs when the originals burn out.

Karl and Jim's examples show that this cycle can be turned into a trail blazing forward into the future.

Hmm.

There's been a fair amount of radio silence from me in the last three months. I had big plans for this summer, but I'm not sure where it went! We moved and added a puppy to our household and I spent a total of 3 weeks in AP training, coaching training, and/or district training and planning meetings. Once upon a time, I was a very regular blogger (different handle, different purpose), and I thought I would keep it up here. I haven't.

I would like to use this as a place for reflection and community, but now isn't the time. We'll see if I get there.