A revelation (updated) February 9, 2007
Posted by jameyo in futurism.trackback
I’m at the TCEA conference in Austin, Texas. I always consider it to be the best week of my year, professionally anyway! I’ve presented two workshops and one concurrent session already this week and have one more to go: Creative Commons in 16A in about 90 minutes. Not that anybody will read this in time to go and listen…..
I was walking the exhibit floor yesterday and a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. We’re working with our schools to put projectors into classrooms as fast as we can. The revelation was that the price of flat-screen LCD TVs are dropping so quickly that a 37-42″ unit is now comparable to that of a LCD projector! Think about it: If a teacher can connect a laptop and display it on a TV screen that size, then all the benefits of a projector are realized without the shadows, set up and cable hassles of a projector and bulb replacement costs are a thing of the past!
So, what’s it going to take for schools to realize this for themselves? An important mindset will have to be altered: flat-screen TVs are perceived as an extravagance. Look at any bar or hotel today (as I’ve been doing this week-more hotels than bars, fyi) and you’ll see how ubiquitous the flat-panel LCD has become. I think the time is ripe for TVs to replace projectors. Consumers will benefit from the further price drop that will inevitably occur and students will have one less reason to think schools aren’t cool.
UPDATE: While walking the floor today, I saw an important piece necessary for this to happen in schools: Keytec, Inc., makers of Magic Touch were in the exhibit hall, demonstrating their products. Magic Touch is a touch-screen overlay for a flat-panel TV that allows the computer image displayed to be manipulated with a finger. Their other product, View Touch, lets you operate the computer via a special laser pointer. When these two products merge with flat-panels becoming ubiquitous in classrooms, I think educational technology will enter a new realm of possibility.
I invite your comments and thoughts.
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[...] Jamey Osborne posted an interesting idea concerning the purchase of flastscreen LCD televisions instead of projectors today: I was walking the exhibit floor yesterday and a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. We’re working with our schools to put projectors into classrooms as fast as we can. The revelation was that the price of flat-screen LCD TVs are dropping so quickly that a 37-42″ unit is now comparable to that of a LCD projector! Think about it: If a teacher can connect a laptop and display it on a TV screen that size, then all the benefits of a projector are realized without the shadows, set up and cable hassles of a projector and bulb replacement costs are a thing of the past! [...]
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