Va. Beach booting chalkboards for tech-board
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/07/va-beach-booting-chalkboards-techboards
Turns out the local school board had funds that they were going to use to pay teachers a bonus of $450. Not sure were the funding came from in these tough economic times but it is admirable of them to do so if they can afford it.
But the teacher bonus didn't get by the board. Instead the board decided to "invest" the money into IWB...interactive whiteboards. The district set aside $7.7 million for the technology. Granted the district has roughly 7700 students but $7.7 million is a lot of money.
So why did they do this? Board members said:
Board members said it was a way to ensure students are ready for the challenges of the future.Really, the future? I am not sure how an interactive whiteboard preps a student for the future. Nowhere in the various 21st century initiative language do I see anything about whiteboards and how students will need to be able to learn from them in the future.
People don't get it. It is not about the tool with which the material is taught. It is about the learning! To think the $7.7 million will lead to 21st century skills for their students is a bit of a stretch. I feel they've been sold a bill of goods. They did what many schools have done....they had money to spend and jumped on the latest trend.
If you do go to this article and you never know how long newspaper links stay please make sure you go down to the comments. The community feedback is not good.
See how much more exciting math can be?
