Technology is No Longer "Go-To" But "With-At-All-Time" In Schools

As a trained educator with a strong foundation in EdTech, and one who has pioneered and advocated the integration of technology at my school, when school boards toss around talk about deciding whether or not more computers on campus are needed, it is certainly a step in the right direction. But in terms of a physical space, that is, the fabrication of a computer lab, such an option is the least effective and most outdated in delivering technology to instructors and learners. Schools that use the reservation-model with computer labs are relying on a system that completely overlooks the type of technology pervasive in today's mobile world and more importantly, how an end user perceives its accessibility. With the advent of thin clients (i.e. netbooks, tablets, smartphones, etc.) and the proliferation of stable wi-fi, any reasonable discussion regarding increasing the quantity of computers should address accessibility so that, for example, a teacher and her class do not have to stop to ‘go to do technology’ at a remote location but instead provide a system by which the ability to drift in and out of the technology seamlessly is ubiquitous with the learning experience. To substantiate this perspective, one can look at the 2012 NMC (New Media Consortium) Report on Higher Education report’s Key Trends:

1. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.

2. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized.

3. The world of work is increasingly collaborative, driving changes in the way student projectsare structured.

4. The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.

5. Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.

6. There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based learning and similar methods foster, which more active learning experiences, both inside and outside the classroom.

(http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition)

It is encouraging when the idea of a mobile lab is part of the discussion and should be supported as a viable, but not exclusive, option. As school board can act with remiss when they do not solicit the recommendations from those using the products that they apportion (instructor and learner). However the best intentions, they can be at a disadvantage when looking through the lenses of old reports and studies. However, the issue of technology can no more be looked through the lens of a school in 2007 but 2012, where critical thinking skills encircle more challenged-based, active learning experiences unencumbered by stop-and-go sessions to a computer lab. Therefore, to answer any school board's question, whether or not there are sufficient scheduling times to use a computer lab is not the issue, but rather a symptom of the bigger issue, one of accessibility in the classroom.