@ggw_bach: We preach this concept of lifelong learning, but how many teachers actually practice it? Nuff said.

@tobeme: If a school principal was able to solve this problem, I’m sure they would have done so a long time ago. It’s the curriculum, the assessments and the measurements that are wrong. They simply do not allow for ICTs in any way. When it is possible to teach a higher school Information Processes and Technology course without even touching a computer, you know there is something wrong. (I kid you not).

@Tony: Your article gave me the motivation to continue this important thread. It has implications for education worldwide. It won’t take long after the computers are delivered for the key missing ingredient in the “revolution” to force a hasty retreat.

The shallow hope of a learning osmosis (revolution?) simply by illusionary proximal association, ala David Copperfield, is now so old it’s actually sad we still have leaders believing in it.

More apt adjectives may include irresponsible, wasteful, politically expedient or my favourite, boguns. I’d argue the revolution we need to have in education has diddly squat to do with technology, but that’s a whole new scratching post.

Maybe too many conductors are broken, still spinning their boxed set vinyl classic hits of the 60′s to 90′s when they should be leading and providing relevant instrument tuition in what their orchestras actually engage with? Go on, blow it !

When circuitous 20 year old “technology revolution” debates such as this are finally redundant we may have actually arrived. They are just Tools (sic) and we all know what happens to dodgy tradespeople who blame theirs for shoddy outcomes?

Thats what really worries me this time; the tools are becoming cheaply ubiquitous, the bosses return on investment expectation is huge, the tradies don’t really know what to do with the hammers BUT they are vested with total reponsibility to construct a thing of beauty that the junta can then revel in, or else.

Stu, a top thought provoker.

If I had one of these laptops, perhaps I could work out how I might be able to teach with it. Do they really think they’ll be able to show me -let alone every other high school teacher in the country how these things can be used in every single subject?

Two billion dollars. That’s a ‘B’. I use computers and the internet quite frequently at home, but not so much at school. It just doesn’t fit into what I HAVE to teach. I agree that we all need to improve our ICT skills, but what’s the point if they are going to judge me on the written test results I achieve with my students? Two billion dollars. I can think of so many better things to spend that amount of money on.

They’d better do a cost-benefit analysis of this project. That’s all I have to say.