So says a new survey from PBS and Grunwald Associates:
Interactive whiteboards are the classroom technology that teachers say they most value, and though tablet-style eReader devices such as Apple’s iPad haven’t been around for long, they’re already considered the second most useful mobile classroom technology behind laptops, according to a national survey of teachers’ digital media use.
Educators are incorporating more internet-dependent technologies into their instruction, the survey also reveals—but shrinking school budgets are prompting many educators to look for free resources. …
When asked to rank mobile technologies with the greatest educational potential, teachers rated different technologies on a 10-point scale. Eighty-one percent of teachers rated laptops as an 8 or above, followed by 53 percent who gave tablets or electronic readers a score of 8, 9, or 10. Cell phones appeared at the bottom of the list, at 11 percent.
Interesting article. I have an iPad, but I’m not interested in bringing it into my high school classes. I’m way more interested in this new thing from HP: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/02/hp-unveils-digital-sketch-and-pocket-whiteboard-gets-serious-ab/. I’m using Smoothboard as a kind of jury-rigged whiteboard solution in my class right now, but I’d leap right in to get the HP thing if the price was right.