It’s probably no surprise that I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to the next great (hyped) thing. While I would never go as far as camp in front of a store like those hipsters in the Apple ad, I do sometimes browse the mall’s AT&T kiosk just to pet the Androids.
So you can understand my disappointment after attending the first few education technology conferences of this year. To be frank, there’s nothing really new out there. Sure, there are upgrades and other sundry improvements on hardware and software. But none of it was really radical enough to use exclamation points on the cover of Tech&Learning.
I think I’ve come to terms with this latest reality. Maybe we’ve reached a point where the newest, fastest, and biggest technology doesn’t matter as much as what can be accomplished with the current stuff. You’ll see no mention of speeds and feeds in “On Notice”. What you will see is technology that is being tweaked to be more efficient and smarter. The piece from James Careless on Web2.0 tools tools doesn’t detail the tech specs of the Information Highway, Net, Web, Cloud. He does describe how educators are doing fantastic, innovative things that would have been science fiction only a decade ago.
That being said, we will always be geeking out on the latest and greatest gear to be released to the education community. Managing Editor Christine Weiser put the new iBook digital textbooks through their paces. We also have hands-on feedback on the latest Anthro tablet charging cart, SMART’s interactive response addition, as well as the latest Long Review installments. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some chores at the mall.
— Kevin Hogan
Editorial Director
khogan@nbmedia.com
