netbooks and schools version 2

I presented about netbooks to the teachers at my school last Tuesday. The feedback was positive. Quite a lot of interested discussion and questions immediately after and some teachers telling me that I had given them something to think about in the days that followed.

The truth is that I cut a lot out of my original presentation (after an earlier smaller trial with a few selected staff). Why? Because I felt the pressure of trying to explain too much - philosophy, epistemology , history, technology. So, this time I followed the KISS principle and conveyed a few simple messages:

1. computers are not well used in schools in labs
2. new technologies have evolved - XO and netbooks
3. everyone has an opinion, so we need to talk about it more. I used a Rorschach to symbolise this point

Next Wednesday I'm presenting to CEGSA (Computer Education Group of South Australia), which again is a different (more tech savvy) audience. For this audience I've modified my presentation yet again, breaking it into two parts:

1. unstoppable force? (kept the same as my presentation to my school staff above)
2. why does it have to be so complicated? (new)
   

My subheadings / slides for part two are:

• What’s in a name?
• Limitations of netbooks
• School of the future
• Our internal model of the computer medium (tool, damnation, salvation)
• Entertain us
• Commercialisation
• Disruptive innovation
• Personal dynamic medium
• Immovable object

At some stage there needs to be a part 3 which covers the software and curriculum issues