Diving into technology

This week's reading got my mind all wrapped up around technology (granted, part of it may be due to the number of pages... :).

I really enjoyed the two rethinking school articles - even though it seems that myspace has not seen nearly as much popularity anymore recently. Many of the thoughts about the introduction of the 'one-on-one' initiative that equips each student with a laptop were very intriguing. During my week-long rural practicum in Buckland, AK, I had the opportunity to observe how laptops might influence everyday school life. I would certainly agree with McFarlane that laptops are not the ultimate solution for all of the teachers' worries. In Buckland, more often than not it seemed that the lesson would start with a "close your laptops and put them away" from the teacher. It seemed that the computers were just an additional distraction that the teacher had to deal with. The only advantage that I could see is the fact that there is no need to reserve a computer lab if any work involves computers.

When it comes to the wonderfully verbose article by Thorne, I will just say that I felt he really had a point in his closing statement: "...the responsibility to make informed decisions ... is more critical now than ever before" (p.18). It seems that the wealth of information and options that technology and the internet offer most importantly requires the teacher to make good decisions!