Are they so SMART?

Lately, the Tempered Radical has been wound up about interactive whiteboards (most recently here). I have a SMARTBoard, and I've mentioned before that doing without it makes me sad.

TR has a solid argument, though:

Even the “Internet access, video and audio presentations, and digital assessments” that Ed Week spotlights can all be done with a data projector alone.  The actual whiteboard does nothing to enhance any of these activities.

Now, Marzano goes on to argue that he’s an ardent believer that technology can make good teaching easier—and he’s right.  But Interactive Whiteboards don’t. 

Instead, they are disarmingly insidious gadgets—so stinking sexy to people making purchasing decisions that they're almost irresistible whether or not there are proven strategies for meaningful implementation.

I can't argue this from beyond my own classroom experience, but I have also worried about spending on SMARTBoards when I could get a whole wad of netbooks for my classroom instead.  Sigh.


Something to chew on, regarding the use of new technology, from Unclutterer:

What inspires me most about the Amish isn’t their alleged simplicity (which you can probably infer I don’t necessarily believe is simpler), but their ability to give up a convenience after experiencing it. It is extremely difficult to give up a technology (or habit or vice or any possession) that you greatly enjoy. The fact that the Amish know of the technologies and ways of our world, have even experienced them, and are willing to give them up if they start to interfere with their priorities in life is what I find impressive. They easily get rid of the distractions that get in the way of what matters most to them.

It happened, and I'm worried.

Remember awhile ago when I started by praising Karl Fisch and ended whining about tech in my district?  I mentioned something about it being easier to purchase a soul than to get a new bulb for one's LCD (or as a friend-colleague calls it, the LSD projector).
On Tuesday, when my 4th hour was studiously working on their American Romanticism essay test, there was a sound like a gunshot.
My SMARTBoard went dark, friends.
I entered the problem in our techy-no-worky-reporting-thingy.
I have nothing but the automatic response that the concern was logged.
When considering said situation, and the fact that all of my curriculum has been transferred to PowerPoints but I don't have a means to use them, the only action that comes to mind is keening and crying, and I just know that's not going to work.
At least not quickly.
And it will probably freak the kids out.

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.