Test Drive

Was a little disappointed with the PDA today - this was my first real test of it. Battery lacked sufficient power (even though fully charged); I had to create three documents for notes because of the volume of that which I wrote (only one page!); clipboard wouldn't hold more than one paragraph ofwriting. Even though frustrating, it was interesting to see where it failed in a 'real' situation.

Technical Control - first thoughts

In order to take full ownership of any technology, it is first necessary to have technical control. Without technical control, there will always be a reliance on others for its use; this impacts on notions of personalisation, privacy and convenience - all central to truly ubiquitous computing. What we must ask, is whether teachers are currently able to take on the technological requirements and demands of using this technology in the classroom. If teachers continue in the traditional spirit of leadership and dominance, then the outcomes are unpredictable; however, if set within the context of a collaborative learning venture, the rewards may benefit both teacher and students. This distribution of cognition, in situated and authentic contexts, can contribute to the development of many skills, though these may not be skills presently recognised, or prioritised, by the current curriculum.