MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER
" Because historically we never had enough information, we have come to believe that more and more information via computers, Internet, etc. will provide all the answers. Information can indeed provide standard solutions. Information can provide the ingredients for design, but information is not design. What will matter is how we create value from information."
-Edward de Bono in New Thinking for the New Millennium, 1999.
A computer in every lap does not make the 21st century classroom much different than the 20th. The computer, no matter how tiny and portable, is just a tool, albeit a powerful tool, but nonetheless, an educational tool, and as dull as an encyclopedia, a calculator, or a piece of foolscap. That is, unless an inspired teacher makes a inspired connection.
The 21st century classroom exists in the relationship and minds and memories of students and teachers, not in the tool (aka computer) or even the huge memory of the server .
The computer can be anywhere: at home, down the school hallway, or in the public library - it does not need to take up precious one-on-one class time. The beauty of the tool is that it expands the classroom beyond the physical walls, and the 9-4 clock.. It is in session whenever teacher and pupil communicate.
............
