Not a substitute but a supporter Phil!
1st April, 2008“Computers are no substitute for the real thing” says Phil Beadle in an article in education Guardian today. http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,2269745,00.html
He goes on to rubbish BETT, the “nerds” at BECTA and presumably Futurelab and seems to suggest that the solution to all this “techie” stuff is to give everyone an HB pencil!
Such uninformed invective I usually associate with the Daily Telegraph. Whoever suggested computers should be a substitute for anything! And as for the underpinning motivation being “saving money” what planet is Phil on?
As for “the real thing” well we all dream of that and the students at ACU have their own version of it…..have a look at this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCTpX3tJEQ
[ev type="youtube" data="TLCTpX3tJEQ"][/ev]
Futurelab is always looking for ideas. Find out how you can 
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April 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I like Larry Ferlazzo’s reaction to this kind of attitude:
“A veteran community organizer once told me that we call people apathetic (or old-fashioned, or closed-minded) when they don’t want to do the things we want them to do. If we want more teachers to use technology, let’s not blame them for our lack of success in helping them see that it’s in their self-interest to use it. Let’s spend more time listening and less time preaching.”
Original post here: http://inpractice.edublogs.org/2008/03/04/technological-frustrations/
Looks like Phil has had a bit of a rant here, maybe he should write a song about it? ;)
April 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Oh, and he said much the same thing two years ago in the same rag: http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/comment/story/0,,1952704,00.html
A bit more tempered back then though…
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:10 am
This is a common problem I face. “Are you suggesting that we get rid of….”. NO, but having this as well might improve learning and teaching.
I would never advocate getting rid of the HB pencil. Mr Beadle is clearly misinformed.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
[...] If you ever thought technology that won’t change the our learning systems I urge you to see Bob Harrison’s blog piece and especially the accompanying video on Futurelab’s FLUX blog http://flux.futurelab.org.uk/2008/04/01/not-a-substitute-but-a-supporter-phil/ [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
While I totally agree with your post Bob and share a vision that technology has a key role to play in the future of education, I’m slightly terrified by the ACU video, which is essentially an ad for the iphone and apple in general. Talk about a branded experience.
Apple must be jumping with joy that a university has totally handed over its curriculum delivery to their trademarked software and hardware. There’s nothing in that video that can’t be done with a non-iphone mobile device and a wireless connection.
Your post neatly conveys two of the biggest challenges to incorporating technology into education: uninformed misconceptions like Phil Beadle’s and the transformation of learning into a “branded” experience, sponsored by corporations and absent of any evidence of critical thinking, like the actions of ACU and their “iTunesU” .