One tablet or two? Opportunities for change in educational provision in the next 20 years
June 2006
Sean McDougall, MD, Stakeholder Design
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One tablet or two? (pdf, 118KB)
Introduction
In the foreword to 'Millennium', his amazing history of the last thousand years, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto imagines a cosmic galaxy of the distant future, in which there is a single exhibit about the planet Earth. Beneath a piece of chainmail and a Coke can is the caption: 'Earth, 1000-2000'.
It's interesting how even a thousand years of technological improvement can be reduced to two mundane pieces of metal. It raises an interesting question: was the alien curator too lazy to tell the story of Earth properly - or is it true that, seen from a distance, the whole thousand years can be summed up as ever better use of metal and the emergence of consumerism?
The dichotomy of near-far perspectives applies just as well to schools. What two objects might we put forward for the British education section of this galactic museum? Some would argue for a piece of chalk and a marker pen. Others would argue for a cane and an ASBO. Optimists might include a chart showing improved literacy rates. Pessimists might include one of those Times articles showing that children today can't do long division. I'm tempted to call for a couple of tablets - one made of slate, the other a battery-powered PC.