the up and down sides of technology

since the beginning of the year, i've been painstakingly working towards a modern classroom that takes full advantage of the fact that it exists in the 21st century. but alas, there are obstacles. my students don't believe me, but all of the materials i make for class and the digital aspects of my lessons are all driven by my old powerbook g4. it runs exactly like the day i opened the box, but that was also almost six years ago. it's to the point where sometimes i'll type out a whole sentence and then have to wait a few seconds for my computer's processor to keep up with the speed of my typing. it's kind of depressing to think that the rate-limiting factor to my productivity is not my own abilities, but in how quickly my computer can interpret my typing.

so this leads us to the first downside. it's EXPENSIVE. i've recently made up my mind to invest in a new computer. MAC spoiled me with the macbook, so it put off my computer buying for a year. fortunately, mr. steve jobs has just put out a new line of fancy shiney new macbooks.

the second downside to technology is that when 100% of your materials are online, including tests and lecture slides, it really sucks when comcast fails you and you don't have internet for a weekend. since i had forgotten to take attendance at school, i wasn't even able to fill it in once i got home. while i lay on the floor in my study, i couldn't help but feel powerless and liberated all at the same time. it was a strange sensation full of conflicting feelings.

and now, the upside. i've had a most exciting time with introducing new technology into a community that thinks laptop carts are glimpses of the future. i was talking to my principle, trying to convince him that laptop carts just made more sense and that they're really some kind of new-fangled innovation. they're just smaller computers put into a portable cart. i've recently finished a grant from northville's mother's club for the purchasing of a class set of student response clickers. for the first two weeks, i occupied my free time with think of ways to involve all of my students, have a way to gauge the whole class's understanding, and have a way to track individual student progress without having to put aside an extra fund for future mental therapy bills. the answer was in these individualized clickers where students can respond anonymously and a computer does most of my tedious work for me.

additionally, i've been working on a far fetched idea that i would have never dreamed of coming true. last year in methods, i was making fun of sherley for how willow run middle school is like the el derado of technology: laptop carts in every class, smartboards, surround sound, and windows. (i had taught in a room without any windows all year so nature looked unfamiliar to me) during our talk about expensive things, talk about wii tennis came up, and someone commented that they hard heard someone had built a smart board out of a wii. well, it's not just a rumor anymore. in the second week of november, northville high school will see its first make-shift smart board made from materials that cost a combined total of $38 (not including tax). the device itself fits in the palm of my hand and works with any digital projector + computer setup and works on any surface.

perhaps the greatest lesson i have learned so far this year regarding technology is this. despite being expensive, it is still available. all you need to do is know who to beg for money and how to make due with innovations when money doesn't quite cut it. creativity always seems to win out in the end. i will be posting pictures of my smartboard in a week or so.