A Funny For Your Monday -- But Seriously....

The iPad may have made it's debut a couple of weeks ago (see my 'review' here), but the cartoon below is still relevant:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

While designed to make you chuckle, the editorial cartoon raises an obvious point regarding technology in the classroom -- where will the money come from to support new technological initiatives? In an era where Alberta teachers are waiting with bated breath to see what cuts to Education the provincial government will reveal in its budget tomorrow, concerns are rampant that the cut backs will have huge implications for the classroom. Teacher lay offs, stalled plans for new schools and funds for resources are all potential imminent possibilities for education in Alberta.

Our counterparts in the south of the border are experiencing similar frustrations. It's the age-old formula for times of heavy government debt: a recession leads to public outcry for the gov't to roll back spending, which leads to the political leaders issuing cuts to public services which inevitably equals huge cut-backs in the Education world.

If we, as educators, admin, tech coordinators and various stakeholders want to continue to support excellent initiatives such as incorporating newer technology into the classroom, we're going to have to get creative regarding how to fund it.

What ideas have you seen to provide money from the ground-up rather than waiting for handouts from the top-down?

Something to think about as you enter the new work week.

Vanessa

Update: 11:17 am  According to my sources, Education Minister Dave Hancock dropped 'large hints' this morning that AISI funding would not be affected by the budget tomorrow.  This is a relief, as it's one of the main areas that schools pull from to purchase technology for their classrooms.  Stay tuned...

iPad - All The Cool Kids Are Talking About It

Due to the fact that I claim to run a technology-based blog, I decided that there was no way to maintain that credibility without at least mentioning the much-hyped release of Apple's iPad. I'm not going to lie - I really haven't had much time to day to sit down and do some proper research on what the 'experts' are saying, but I figured I'd throw my own 2 cents into the ring, nonetheless.


From everything I've read thus far, it looks like the new iPad is essentially a giant iPod touch on steroids, and the reviews are mixed. Some are impressed with the price and rave about its compatibility with apps, others bemoan the lack of a camera and flash capabilities. Check out a couple reviews that I have found thus far:
Here
And here

Either way, I think that the marketing directors at Apple have created enough hype around its release that it is sure to become an instant competitor for existing netbooks and ereaders.

I personally am a glass half-full type of person, so pretty much anything that's new, exciting and shiny impresses me initially. I think any of the disappointments that people have come from extremely high expectations and loads of rumours pre-release. For those naysayers out there, one of my fellow Twitter-ers (@cnanson) said it best when he said "If ppl expected Apple to announce they could change sand into gold they would be disappointed if they could only make silver"

On that note, I'm off to add iPad to my Christmas list...

Vanessa :)

P.S. I couldn't possibly let a relatively large political event pass by without a brief comment on it. Here is what I was watching on TV while writing this post: