I love BJ's response because the focus is on effective USE and not "what we have." 

A well-trained educator who "gets it" can make a world of difference with an old desktop running free tools if they are flexible, creative, and focus on maximizing learning with the available resources. Sure, they would do better with the latest tools & toys, but those are not what make the difference.

Working in a school with a reasonable budget and good resources, what I can't buy is TIME for teachers to learn and transform what they do and how they do it. Two weeks with staff to immerse ourselves in 21st century pedagogy and curriculum redesign would be priceless.

Transformation is not just about the technology!

E

On Feb 24, 2012, at 6:49 PM, Bjorn Behrendt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

  1. I would make sure every teacher was familiar with new learning theories, before any tool is purchased.
  2. I would make sure they would have the time to rewrite their lessons to follow those theories.
  3. I would require teachers to show a connection between theory and the item they want to purchase.
My concern with unlimited funding is that true learning would get lost in all the new toys they had to play with.  Only once teachers were ready would I bring in the tools.

Another issue with unlimited funding is that the students don't have unlimited funding and if they are always exposed to the "top of the line" method, those skills become inaccessible when outside of school.  ~ basically money or not I am still a free and opensource person because of the accessibly it provides not funding.

With that said, I want the touch screen tables and screens that are on Hawaii 50, and similar hi-tech cop shows.



Bjorn Behrendt ~ Never Stop Learning
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On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 1:45 PM, Open Source <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
On Feb 24, 2012, at 10:28 AM, Jack Barnes wrote:

I think the elephant in the room is funding available.  I think we would all do things different if funding was not an issue.

When i read this line in Jack's email, I was really interested in learning the answer to his implied question:


     What would you do for your school (regarding technology) if funding were not an issue?


Not infinite, stupid funding (hire a helicopter to fly in private chefs) but, for the sake of this discussion, say a private donor who completely trusted your technology opinion and had the resources to fund any technology initiative your proposed.

What would you buy for hardware? for software?  for PD?  for …?

Perhaps this type of day dream is too painful in these shrinking budget times but I found it interesting.

Here is my list

- ubiquitous computing resources of some flavor (computing power available to all students, teachers and staff right when it was needed) with all necessary support staff
- a Maker Space with all the tools (3D printers, CNC laser cutters, fabric printers, DIY bio tools,...)
- travel stipends for all students (and chaperones) to Maker Faires, tech/robotics competitions, conferences, etc
- abundant connectivity at schools and homes
- 'venture' funding opportunities for students to launch companies or serious multi-year projects - students both request and allocate funds.


sigh….well as Morpheus said... back to 'the Dessert of the Real'

Bryant




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