Practical Theory

Well, now that Tom has written about what we're up to at SLA (thanks Tom!), I suppose it's time to start using this blog a bit more for thinking about the Science Leadership Academy.

So here's a topic that I'm hoping David reads and gets involved with:

If you were designing a small school from scratch -- what is the technological infrastructure you would put in place to promote literacy and learning for our ever changing world?

Here's my wish list so far...
1) One to one student-laptop ratio. Not sure I can find a funder, but I think it's essential.
2) Wireless (of course)
3) Smartboards / Video capability in every classroom.
4) Extensive web portal -- a combination of moodle / schooltool / blogs and what we built at Beacon. (And do any of these devices sync to a Palm?)
5) Longer class periods to promote the constructivist teaching that those tools can engender.
6) All the DV Camcorders and cameras we can muster.
7) Probe software for science classes
8: use of iChat-type software for collaborations with students / teachers / researchers off-site (distance learning that can work)

What's funny is that this feels less innovative / cutting-edge than it should. I've had this vision for a few years now. I don't think that the last few years have seen new tools, but rather new ways to use the tools we developed in the five/ten years before that. And I don't think we're close to fully realizing the potential of all those tools. Of course, that's the next blog entry... thinking about the curriculum design to effectively use these tools... and perhaps a smarter order would have been to post the ideas and then the tools necessary. For me, it's hard to separate them out as different.

But what tools are we missing? What would you do with them?