Challenges

[Jennifer Dorman]

I have already experienced some challenges in the process of creating the class collaborations as well as the limitations of bandwidth, hardware, and lack of IT support for instructional initiatives. I will use this forum to air some of those challenges and seek ideas for possible solutions. I invite others to do the same here.

[Anthony Armstrong]

Jennifer,

A problem that we are running into with laptop carts in our school is battery power. We have 5 laptop carts, holding 20 laptops a piece, for the MS and ES levels. As teachers become trained and more proficient in their technology skills and abilities, the more teachers are signing up to use them. This is a good problem to have, don't get me wrong. But the problem we are having is that by the time the afternoon teacher gets the laptop cart for use in their class, the battery power on the laptops is gone. There isn't enough time between the morning and afternoon sessions to recharge the batteries fully which really puts our afternoon teachers at a disadvantage. The power cords are all wrapped up in the cart itself so it's not as easy as pulling out the power cords in back and using them. The school has talked about buying an extra battery for each laptop in the cart, but at $100/per, that's some $10,000 going towards laptop batteries which only tend to lose their ability to hold a charge as time goes by.

With regards to bandwidth, I came across this article on MSNBC and thought about you, "Is U.S. stuck in the Internet's slow lane?" I have the good fortune of being in South Korea and working on one of the fastest internet providers in the world. You'll see someone on the subway perfectly streaming a television show right on their cell phone. Nevermind the fact that the subway car itself is several meters underground and swiftly traveling underground tunnels. The iPhone may be a big deal in the states, but it's last years technology here.

Any added thoughts and opinions are welcome.