The economic crisis facing the U.S. today is by no means a localized phenomenon -- it is a turbulence felt across the globe. However, the trend towards mobility, which is also evident in North America, also extends to the corners of the globe. How are they related?
Well, as many here in the U.S. have already experienced, teachers in Estonia are now facing a salary freeze. In fact, according to Tõnis Lukas, the Minister of Education and Research of Estonia, the Ministry is facing a 7% budget cut this year. Despite that, a proposal is on the table that would offer some level of compensation by providing laptops for the educators, according to a report in the Baltic Business News.
Some, like Hille Eek, Director of the Viimsi school, argue that laptops are a luxury, and that, at least among Viimsi teachers, each has a PC at home and access to one on school premises.
However, if you consider the added convenience and mobility laptops provide, along with ever-lower price tags -- it's no coincidence that laptop sales outnumber desktops today -- the argument can easily be made that they offer significant improvements in productivity.
According to Andres Ammas, director of Haapsalu Gümnaasium, "Nowadays a laptop is like blackboard and chalk used to be."
It's an interesting proposition. Without question, teachers' ability to work without being tied to a desk or having to constantly transfer files between PCs would be significantly enhanced. On the other hand, despite the low cost of laptops today, the proposition would, nevertheless, present a budgetary dilemma. But the potential productivity gains have to be weighed against the cost.
My take: the benefits outweigh the financial burden, both for the educators and the students. I can't imagine working without a laptop these days, and though it may be an extreme case, my mother, who teaches in Estonia, is able to connect to her school's network from Connecticut when visiting, able to develop lesson plans and communicate with students and colleagues.
For a small nation, but one that has been in the immersed in the communications space for several years now, it is the obvious choice in a world that is becoming more mobile by the day.
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