Oh dear.
One of my favourite ever schools, I have just found out that all students are expected to "buy" a school I Pad.
I was dismayed to hear this.
Firstly, what about those students not in a family position to be able to afford such a thing? What about those students who do not have a safe place to keep them? Why oh why should teachers need students to have such a thing?
I am not disputing that there are some fantastic educational apps and that students can work, be tested and submit work via them. And that it reduces paper. But what is stopping the teachers having a supply of class I Pads that can be used for a particular lesson?
We seem to be moving away from the pen and paper skill... and lets just stay focused for the moment.
Are all exams done on a computer? No.
Do students still need to know how to write? Yes.
Has ICT as a subject been diminished to the point that students are not taught exclusively in ICT lessons about Internet Safety? Yes.
Are main exams still pen and paper. Yes.
In the workplace will students use I Pads for work? Certainly more No than Yes.
Are Universities equipped to students using I Pads? No. (If anything Universities are still lagging behind when it comes to using technology.)
Are we seeing the end of textbooks? Yes.
So why should we expect students to use and carry these things around?
And another matter and this is a true story. A mother friend of mines daughter accidentally damaged her I Pad. She had been told that all the I Pads were insured. What she was not told was that there was a £50 excess which she had to pay. (And no it wasn't in the small print either!)
I am not suggesting that we should not embrace technology, what I am saying is that the Current Governments thinking on Computer Science and the dismantling of the ICT Curriculum does not play hand in hand with the use of I Pads.
I await a few years down the line when employers are stating yet again that we are not equipping students for a world of work.
I am truly dismayed.
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