Friday, October 31, 2014

Starr on Chromebooks: "...you can never have everything perfectly completed before you go forward..."

Here's Part 2 of the Board of Education meeting where Superintendent Joshua Starr's surprise Chromebooks project was announced and voted on.
In this segment of the video we learn about:
  • MCPS policies need to be updated immediately
  • Co-construction with students as to how to use Chromebooks
  • Training for teachers
  • Support/Repairs 
  • Equipment
  • Media Specialists take on new responsibilities


July 15, 2014
7.1 Strategic Technology Plan-Creating 21st Century Learning Spaces

4 comments:

  1. This is a recipe for disaster in so many ways. As a parent, I do not want my 8/9 year old bringing anything to school that costs over $100. Kids lose things, drop things, break things, and steal things. What kind of security is the school going to provide for the thousands of dollars of electronic devices that these kids are going to be bringing to school every day? What happens when the devices are lost or stolen? And the expectation that the kids might be composing and learning on a smart phone. What a joke. This has very little to do with learning and everything to do with PARCC.

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  2. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2014/07/maryland_district_approves_big.html

    "MCPS students will not be permitted to take the devices home."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If MCPS thinks that none of these devices will find their way out of schools, they are surely deluded. There is no way that out of 100K devices they'll all be there at the end of the year - and of those that are, well, kids are kids and accidents happen despite everyone's best intentions.

      I shudder to think of the cost of insurance and maintenance alone....

      Delete
  3. Bring your own devices is the alternative, which disadvantages poor kids. Chromebooks are great ways to provide low cost laptops in the classroom. They do not cost "thousands of dollars". A consumer can by an Asus Chromebook for say $235, so a school district will probably be paying $200 per laptop. Many textbooks are approaching that price.

    ReplyDelete

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