Long plane rides -- often accompanied by even longer delays -- provide time for reflections. Traveling back from the recent 28th Annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) provided ample opportunity to ponder on my three days in Atlanta. Entering the exhibit hall in the Georgia World Congress Center, I was immediately assaulted by competing sights and sounds -- and enthusiastic attendees. With 1,291 booths and 482 companies, the over 18,000 attendees from schools across the nation had a great deal of choice and variety. Vendors were pitching their products and services with classroom-style demonstrations, audio presentations, printed materials -- and the inevitable giveaways. I trolled the aisles and witnessed the ways in which ed technology is changing the K-12 classroom and learning experience.
Much has happened since I attended my first NECC meeting in 2000, the height of the dot.com era. This year, I was struck by the dynamic energy of the exhibit hall and the optimism. In 2000, it was all about boxes and wires and software that held the promise of transforming the learning process. Fast forward to 2007 -- it is now about technology as a solution to the problems encountered in today's schools, ways in which technology can meet accountability mandates and reach students with special needs, provide professional development and ensure security. With the availability of more and more small devices and wireless connections, learning is taking place anywhere, anytime and anyplace. References to Web 2.0, wikis, blogs, collaborative tools and user-created content were heard over and over again.
I am now at the Project Inkwell meeting in Park City, Utah, a far different experience then NECC. Here a small group of representatives from companies and state agencies are discussing one to one (1:1) models, a teaching and learning environment where every learner and educator has always-on, real-time access to personal learning technology. While 1:1 projects receive a great deal of attention in K-12 education, the challenge is to move these projects beyond the pilot stage to large scale implementations. A review of emerging 1:1 appliances at the meeting is a window into the future of ultra-mobile computing for the K-12 market -- much smaller and lighter devices, brighter screen displays, finger based interactions rather than keyboards, and longer battery life. It is clear that the market is responding to the call for kid-friendly devices that can stand the punishment of a backpack, reflect the technical sophistication of today's students and respond to the reality that today's students learn differently than "we" did. Yes, long plane rides offer time to reflect -- and as I reflect on these meetings and visits with colleagues, I am encouraged with the way in which technology is moving along and transforming the learning process. Many good things are happening, with more to come.
Irene Spero is vice president of external relations at the Consortium of School Networking (COSN). Look for her monthly columns on IT in K-12 education.
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