Tablet Frenzy - FAQ for the interested

I am burying my head in the sand until the stupidity that is “tablets-are-an-educational-game-changer” goes away.  I fully expect to see several respected journalists and bloggers having carnal relations with a tablet any day now.

I’ve decided to write a mini-faq with my views on tablets in education:

Q. Will tablets revolutionize education?

A. No. Tablets will not change education (read this post) good teaching is the single most important variable for good education, not a shiny thing that blinks.

Q. Will tablets revolutionize education?

A. Yes. The same way the VCR did, the same way overhead projectors did, the same way computer labs did, the same way Windows 3.1 did.

Q. Will tablets revolutionize education?

A. Yes, because unlike other pieces of educational technology, tablets:

1. magically don’t need to be maintained, upgraded, configured, supported or linked to other systems in your school (like printers, file servers, user directories, etc)
2. never break
3. automatically train their users - no staff development required
4. run software that automatically makes students smarter - no instructional design required, no critical thinking, just plug it in, and ** poof ** you are smart!
5. don’t require license fees for software

Sigh….