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This site contains presentations, publications, lessons and training materials developed over many years. The site is continually updated so I hope you'll come back often. All content is freely shareable and linkable, but I'd love to hear your comments about any of it. You can always find me at sine@udel.edu.

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September 20, 2006

IT Doesn't Matter...in Schools 2006

IT Doesn't Matter

Last week my class Planning IT-enhanced Projects in the Public & Nonprofit Sectors discussed the article from Nicholas Carr that made such a stir two years ago. At the end of the class everyone was agreeing with Carr’s argument when refined by other commenters to emphasize that business processes utilizing IT are what matters. However, when I asked them to come up with a computer replacement plan for their hypothetical agency, very few tied their arguments to the business practice involved.

Today an article in our local paper talked about the new Philadelphia School of the Future. The students found this interesting enough to bring to the class listserv and to comment on; some are even blogging about it. Trouble is their conversation has been about the kids getting laptops and issues of the digital divide. While that's not to be ignored, it decidedly is not what this school is about. Much more important is the focus on collaborative, student-centered, critical thinking, problem-solving curricula. The principal is known as the "Chief Learner."

This really is about reinventing the business process of schools and is way overdue!

Posted by Pat on September 20, 2006 12:54 PM