On August 6th I wrote about the new Android-based Education tablets and asked about pricing and availability. An Intel Spokesman confirmed with PC Magazine that the tablets are reference designs. Intel System Builders will use the designs to build their own education tablets. Mr. Poeter opines at the end of the article that Intel may be trying to rekindle the Classmate product line.
Ken Hess continues the discussion asking if the tablets are a step toward non-existent classrooms. Will classrooms become empty shells? Baring the mistake regarding distance learning (which has been around since the 1700s, maybe longer), the end of the classroom is not going to be destroyed by technology. Society might decide to close classrooms but this would be due to other causes.
The key to our disagreement is the statement that “mobile classrooms mean that teachers and students aren’t bound to a particular location.” This is untrue and an anti-social perspective regarding the use of technology. Some students will gain access to individuals across the planet – but learning is never done in a shell.
I suspect that humans will always congregate. No technology will stop humans from gathering: whether it is for religion, for family events, or schooling. And whenever people congregate – they exchange ideas – they learn.
Will tablets change the classroom – maybe just the appearance – but learning will still happen.