Again, I ask the question: When your students walk into your classroom, is it “like boarding an airplane where all the technology is turned off for the duration of the flight (or classroom)”? This is taken from Karl Kapp’s blog today where Apple’s Jon Burgess gave the keynote for Winter 2009 ICT conference.

The question is a valid one because the students we teach today were born with the technology – they use it without a second thought, while we teachers who have been around for awhile have to consciously put it in to our lessons. One of the schools where I teach is having severe budget problems – where use of the department copier is being severely restricted. A lot of teachers were up in arms, but they have two choices – send their copies to the copy center (where it is half the cost of using the department copier) or put it up on BlackBoard.

Using BlackBoard is a start, though. What other technology in the classroom can we use so the students don’t feel like they are boarding an airplane? Read Karl’s excellent blog as he gives a run down on John Burgess’ keynote address.

Mark Viquesney