16,900 tablets for Geneva state schools

The Canton of Geneva is investing 22 million Swiss francs to supply computer tablets to all primary schools in the region.

This budget will buy some 16,900 tablets, and also covers the installation of wifi in schools. There will not be enough tablets for every single student, but enough for every two students.

How will the technology change the teaching and learning process? The question was raised by Jean-Paul Payet, professor of sociology in an article in Le Temps.

There are doubts about what is the best way of introducing and using the tablets alongside traditional teaching methods. Are teachers, students and parents ready for a fundamental change? And is the system ready for a revolutionary transformation?

This does not mean the new policy is a bad move. All agree that the use in the classroom should be revised, refined and adjusted from time to time.

Internationally, there has been a lot of debate about how to introduce tablets into schools. A study by Harvard Business School says that to make the most of the investment, school leaders must do three things:

• Work with their communities to articulate a clear vision for how new technology will improve instruction.
• Help educators imagine how new technologies can support those visions.
• Support teachers and students on a developmental journey that will take them from using tablets for consumption to using them for curation, creation, and connection.

Source:

Can Tablets Transform Teaching? Harvard Graduate School of Education

Les tablettes de l’école du «vieux monde», Le Temps

10,282 millions de francs pour équiper les écoliers genevois de 16 900 tablettes, LeDauphine

Photo: Freepik