When You Need a Wrench, a Hammer Won't Do

When Klein ISD made the commitment to initiate a one-to-one program in 2006 many decisions had to be made. There were technical issues of bandwidth and access, economic considerations regarding cost, support, and replacement, but the pivotal question – selecting the appropriate instructional tool – focused on the reason for embarking on a one-to-one implementation in the first place. The rationale behind the decision to go with Tablet PCs was rooted in the fact that one-to-one was designed to be an innovative instructional program rather than a technology initiative.

The Tablet PC is the device that best meets the learning and teaching needs for our students and teachers in all content areas. Students need to be engaged in their learning. They need opportunities to inquire and to think critically, to create new knowledge and have a means to share their thinking with others. Their primary learning tool has to give them the flexibility to not only search the Internet, type essays or plug in formulas, but also to create and produce a wide variety of content, including drawings, illustrations and multimedia incorporating video and sound, as well as read electronic text and interact with it. The selection of the Tablet PC form factor, combined with a strong commitment to changing pedagogical practices integrated with ongoing, sustained professional development, are some of the leading reasons behind the success of Klein ISD’s one-to-one initiative.

Today we have four campuses with one-to-one Tablet PC programs, which include one intermediate school (grades 6, 7 and 8) and three high schools. Since the inception of this program we have seen rising test scores, and declining discipline problems. In this presentation we will share the changes in instructional practices that have come about as a result of the one-to-program and review data. We will also look at the professional development that is embedded in each one-to-one program in Klein, for both teachers and administrators.

What's So Special About Schools & Technology?

In the history of the world, “education” can be characterized as having long periods of stability punctuated by intense moments of transition. We are now in one of those moments of intense transition from paper, blackboards and chalk to an array of digital technologies. Not surprisingly, education is not the only system to undergo change in the history of the planet, not even a so-called, digital transformation. It's instructive to look and think about past transitions in other domains, the timing, rationale, and implications for all the people involved. From this systems approach, we learn that education is both not so special and, perhaps surprisingly, very special at the same time. Second, as with many transitions of this nature it's not just about the technologies, but about what those technologies suggest, hint at and require of the systems, in this case, the teachers, students, administrations and often, but not always, the public. We'll examine recent technologies and what they can and should mean to education, and specifically to the people and their roles that comprise education systems. Finally, rather than bore you all with a treatise on the varieties of touch screens and computing devices, we’ll take a unique view of how we use and design technologies in accord with the systems approach discussed above, and in the process, consider the various technical aspects of the these new digital capabilities - not as an engineering exercise, but as an exercise in how the technologies we choose affect and are affected by the ongoing digital transformation of global education system. The point of this lecture is to shift our thinking away from the technologies themselves and to give us a set of tools for understanding and evaluating how specific technologies and design decisions affect education as a comprehensive system: its people, practices, resources and power.