Readers' Survey 2007: Best Tech Tool
Edutopia readers weigh in on their favorites.
by Edutopia Staff

Credit: Getty Images
The Computer
We were not really surprised that the winner by a wide margin is the computer. Way back in the eighties, Time magazine named the computer Man of the Year, so by now it's not news that computers are as basic in schools as whiteboards and PB&J sandwiches. The wrinkle this year is that most of the readers who extolled the computer specified laptops, as portable as textbooks but far more abundant in content.
Other reader choices show that when computers are a given, more novel tech becomes standard: interactive whiteboards, digital cameras, iPods, and word processing (which won't by itself make kids better writers but can make them more willing ones). It's heartwarming to note that more than a few respondents still made the case for the pencil, with an eraser -- a classic blessing at both ends. Not one educator, by the way, nominated the cell phone.
Our Take
Upward Mobility
Computers are so embedded in business and private life that we hardly notice how much we depend on them. Let's put them on the essential commodity shelf, then, along with the refrigerator and the radio. The new sine qua non of modern life -- and modern learning -- is the Internet. Well, not new, because the smart young brainiacs at Netscape gave us regular folks the chance to trade Pez dispensers (hello, eBay!) or tell the world about our favorite color (MySpace is your space) years ago. But let a third grader "fly" to his or her home address on the magic carpet of Google Earth, and you may pique an interest in geography in a way no textbook map can.
NEXT PAGE OF READERS' SURVEY: Hottest topic in the teachers' lounge
2007 Readers' Survey Home Page







SMART boards
Submitted by Phyllis (not verified) on March 24, 2008 - 12:42.
The most useful tech tool that I have in my class other than the computer is my interactive smartboard and document camera. My kids use it during center-time and they are becoming very tech-savy. We also use it during small-group and whole-class activites on a daily basis.
Tech Tool
Submitted by Jennifer Brown (not verified) on November 27, 2007 - 19:17.
I love to use the smart board in my classroom. It is a great way to use technology and get students to participate in a small group or whole class discussion.
Post new comment