You wouldn’t use a hammer as a paint brush, would you? When schools decide on a device for their 1:1 programs, selecting the right device for your school has everything to do with learning objectives and the tasks that students will do.
Focus on Learning Needs
Debating the best technology platforms is what we do, and there is either a single winner (Kindle Fire HD over iPads) or divided camps (PC vs. Mac, Windows vs. Google). These rivalries are as much a part of our culture as rooting for our favorite team.
But they’re also the byproduct of marketing and for-profit businesses, not educational practice and policy. Rivalries can create a toxic lens when they divide communities within education or limit our understanding of what is possible.
Stay Flexible
As needs change over time, addressing them might mean switching devices. A focus on key technology skills will transfer from one device to another while a focus on being a device expert will not. Students will graduate into a world that will demand technological fluency, and they must have the ability to move and process information across various platforms and devices. (Remember using Apple IIe’s with a floppy-drive?)
What if one device is not the answer? If a school uses PCs, this shouldn’t prevent it from purchasing Macs for art programs where that technology might better meet the students’ learning needs. Tools for one subject often don’t easily translate or serve the best purposes of others.
Planning doesn’t stop when a device gets into the students’ hands.
The post From iPads to Chromebooks: We Need to Think Beyond the Brand appeared first on The Official Thinking Maps ® Blog.
