The modern classroom, in your hand?

Leading up to the superbowl I kept looking for the next great commercial. The one that would make you sit up and stare at the TV and tell your friend cruching natchos on the couch next to you to be quiet. I didn't see any during the game, but there is one commercial that has gotten stuck in the recesses of my brain. Have you seen it? It is the one where the professor is talking to his class about how he has failed them. It is an expertly filmed little short that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It gives me pause, not because of the product they are selling, but because it voices an idea that has been lurking in education for more than a decade.

'With all of this technology why do we need physical classrooms?'

Kaplan, the company that put together this ad is selling an online educational experience. They are challenging the status quo that education is delivered via a facility, a teacher and a class. Many other schools and universities have started to challenge this idea as well, pushing to use technology to leverage the best teachers and reach to far more students. Some people rave about the opportunity to learn on their own time and in their own place, but is it effective? Does this type of learning have real merit? And, if it does, does technology undermine the need for schools all together?

I am still forming an opinion on this and plan to blog on it quite a bit in the future. This post is an invitation to each of you to take a look at the Kaplan ad (just follow the link) and send me an opinion on what you think, both of the ad and of the idea that maybe we don't really need classrooms at all!

Let me know your thoughts. Lots more to follow.

!!!! Senate Cuts School Construction !!!!

I have been closely watching the debates on the stimulus package for the past weeks (yes it has only been debated for a few short weeks). The package which started out based on a concept of rebuilding infrastructure and creating jobs has withered on the vine and is now chock full of tax cuts and specialized spending. While this package will hopefully pull us out of the downward spiral our economy is in, it does not have the teeth and power of some of the public works projects of the past. What is most disturbing to me is the lack of funds for construction both rehabilitation and new for our schools.

To put it simply, investing in our schools is a no brainer. By improving school facilities we invest not only in the opportunities of tomorrows students but the value of today's workers. Construction creates jobs, period. It creates jobs today that translate into future work for the people who will occupy, maintain and work in these new facilities. We also build assets for the future in real property. We can not afford to cut out spending on construction.

I have been continuing to monitor the senate debate on the stimulus package. While the press has been playing up the political power plays each party has been making the details of the bill have been changing dramatically. The Nelson Collins Amendment was proposed on February 5th and accepted into the package. This amendment to the bill has changed the math to redistribute funds in all areas. Unfortunately that amendment proposes to cut almost 20 billion dollars out of school construction funding (16 B for K-12, 3.5 B for Higher Ed).

You can find the details of the changes in appropriations through the link below. Take a specific look at lines 443 and 454 which cut school construction spending.

http://bennelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=307916
(if you have trouble with the link, cut and paste it into your browser)

It is expected that the senate will vote on these measures early next week. If any of you have connections to senators or representatives please reach out to them and ask them to keep the proposed school construction funds in the stimulus bill. Also please forward this post to your colleagues as appropriate.

This is a dramatic change to the potential outlook for school construction over the next 2-4 years. It will continue a federal legacy of neglecting our schools. We need our senators, representatives and president to step up and keep school construction in the bill, both to stimulate the economy now and invest in our future.