Many schools have recently become fascinated by the iPad.

There is no doubt that the iPad is an amazing device. I believe that it is part of a revolution that will prove to be even greater than the revolution that was started with the invention of the personal computer. But I wonder whether schools are succumbing to  "shiny-object syndrome" in their fascination. Or whether, with the iPad, schools realise they can place a personal device in the hands of every student at a fraction of the cost of a notebook computer.

If all our teachers are doing is replacing textbooks with .pdfs and replacing worksheets with colourful tutorial apps, then we are selling our students short. Parents, in the end, will feel disillusioned, as they fund every investment that school systems and governments make. They want to see value in the money they have spent.
If we are to use the iPad in our schools it must be because with this tool we can fundamentally change the dynamics of learning for the better; and because this tool makes it so much easier to do this than any of the other tools we can use.

If we can answer the question "Why?" with clarity and with a sense of purpose, then we'll be on the right track.

The school day has many characteristics in common with the production-line model of manufacturing.

The curriculum is broken up into "departments" (subjects) and the "products" (students) move from station to station to undergo elements of the production process.

At each stage, "highly-skilled artisans" (teachers) provide input, make adjustments and assess for compliance against quality standards.

This process is scheduled according to a well-organised, structured and controlled timetable. If some part of the process is missed or omitted, this will need to be made up later, usually at the end of the day, or when the production line has shut down for the week.

"Products" (students) are arranged according to their date of manufacture (class, year level) and are kept together in groups associated with this date and "model class" (house groups, streams, forms). They often wear a badge and are clothed in a house style, so that they can be seen to belong to the same "brand."

Is it any wonder that the name we use in English for a bunch of fish who all appear the same and are all swimming in the same direction, is the same word we use for an educational institution?

We are at the crossroads.

Although personal computers have promised the transformation of education for quite a while, and much progress has been made, many classrooms are essentially the same as they were forty or fifty years ago.

Why is that?

I believe that one reason is because the teacher is "in control." What I mean is that, as the moderator and the facilitator of learning, the teacher is in a position of power in the classroom and that the classroom setting, its furniture and furnishings, its layout and even the activities that take place, are all in the teacher's control.

This is not a bad thing as such. We would want our teachers to be moderators and leaders of the learning environment. It's just that so many of these classrooms are teacher-centred rather than student-centred. And furthermore, when they appear as if they are student-focussed, they look like an adult's interpretation of a student-centred space.

Another reason is that, until now, the classroom and the teacher have been the centre of attention for many students. If you wanted to learn, if you wanted access to information and knowledge, the classroom was the place to be. The teacher held the keys and your relationship with the teacher became a crucial ingredient in the student's success or failure.

Things have changed.

Students now have ubiquitous access to knowledge and information. They participate in extensive online social networks. Teachers no longer hold all the keys. Some of them mistrust the new online world. When students come to school, they enter rooms that look the same as they did before they were born.

Things have changed. The classroom must change. Teaching must change.

We are at the crossroads.