Very interesting post. I've felt for a while now that if Apple produced a
mini-tablet, about the size of 3 iPhones laid side-by-side, they might tap
into a huge market. Laptops and tablets are wonderful devices, but having
run a one-to-one program for 10 years, I'm fully aware that their use in
school environments is a very high-maintenance and expensive endeavor. In
certain educational environments they will continue to be be the digital
tool of choice, but in most schools a digital device more like you are
describing would be more viable and sustainable.
I've just started reading Clayton Christensen's book The Innovator's
Dilemma (thanks to Alex Ragone, Arvind Grover and Vinnie Vrotny for
featuring the book in this podcast
http://www.edtechtalk.com/taxonomy/term/9) and Christensen's theory about
disruptive change really resonates with some of your points. For example,
take this little snippet:
"... in their efforts to provide better products than their competitors
and earn higher prices and margins, suppliers often "overshoot" their
market: They give customers more than they need or ultimately are willing
to pay for. And more importantly, it means that disruptive technologies
that underperform today, relative to what users in the market demand, may
be fully performance competitive in that same market tomorrow."
In a larger sense I wonder if some independent schools haven't overshot
their market, giving their customers more than they need or ultimately are
willing to pay for. Perhaps, as the device we're envisioning becomes a
reality, there will be market opening for a new type of simpler, smaller
school that would take full advantage of the device and the Web 2.0 cloud
of information the device would make ubiquitously accessible.
Just some thoughts on a chilly November night.
Fred
-------------------------
Fred Bartels
Head - Computer Department
Rye Country Day School
914-925-4610
A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> writes:
>Well, e-readers or even tablet or laptop computers could make a big dent
>in the backpack problem, but a few things need to happen first.
>
>One is that the "reader" function must become easy to use, robust, and not
>just a wee bit durable. Some folks love their Kindles or other readers,
>but are these machines ready for the hurly-burly of 165 school days?
>Laptops are coming down in price but not that comfy as reading devices,
>while tablets are still pretty dear and only a bit more comfy. Ideally,
>someone will cook up a tough tablet with an exceptional reader function in
>a form factor closer to the Kindle or a 9-10" netbook than to the larger
>models around today. I know there now are tablets the right size, but
>tough and easily readable are mostly still missing qualities.
>
>More important, one of two other things has to happen: either textbook
>companies have to offer universal availability of their product lines,
>including novels, or educators have to wean themselves from dependency on
>textbooks as the source and center of their curricula. Textbook companies
>operate at what must be dizzying profit margins, and they make their money
>by selling tons (literally) of big books. While the argument that making
>content available on line would reduce production costs and allow for even
>bigger margins makes sense to me, it doesn't seem to make sense to the
>textbook industry just yet. Demand may be a major factor in why they
>haven't moved this way as far as one might have hoped by now; it may come
>down to a question of which comes first, the gadget or the content? In a
>slumping economy, the impetus to develop either may be diminishing.
>
>However, I love to imagine imagine downloading to my and my students'
>robust, writable tablet-readers a fairly skeletal text for, say, a basic
>history survey course, something like an AMSCO review book, and then
>filling up my syllabus with downloaded and teacher-created bits and pieces
>that would allow me to customize my course like crazy in all the ways I'd
>love to be able to do this. (We can do this now, incidentally, so it's not
>really a matter of technology.) Better can I imagine doing this without
>the outline for more specialized elective courses. Right now, one issue in
>doing this, whether computer-based or xeroxed, has to do with permissions
>and copyright, while for a lot of teachers an even bigger barrier is the
>sheer hassle of working this way--it's too novel, too overwhelming, or
>just too cumbersome.
>
>Like your teacher, I dream of the day when all I or my students or my own
>children will need is one slick gadget, good for reading, research,
>communication, note-taking, and probably a bunch of other functions
>(musical, audio-visual) that I'm not thinking of. It will be about the
>size and weight of a trade paperback, have great battery life, excellent
>durability (waterproof would be nice, too), and superb connectivity. Hasta
>la vista, giant L.L. Bean backpacks and Timbuktu messenger bags!
>
>But there is much work to be done first--Peter Gow
>
>Peter Gow, Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
>Beaver Country Day School
>791 Hammond Street
>Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
>www.bcdschool.org
>Tel. 617-738-2755
>FAX 617-738-2701
>Skype: petergow3
>
>
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