I see that Bill Gates has the same dream that I do, namely that every student should have a Tablet PC / UMPC (tip of the hat to GottaBeMobile for catching the article in IfoWorld).

If you click on the “small” picture of a MindManager map below, you’ll see that I’ve put more than a little thought into the matter. This ability to post a “web” map is a pretty nice feature of MindManager in itself by the way! The only problem that I had with it was that the jpg file it created was over 8MB! I’m sure there’s a setting somewhere to lower the quality of the image, but until then I’ll just use Photoshop to do that (the full map is now just over 1MB in size and opens in the upper right corner so you'll have to scroll around ...and a big monitor helps!)

Anyway, back to what the map represents: the dream of a large district that is totally 1:1 with tablets. Even with all of the work that I’ve put into this map, it is still a rough draft. As a web only version, it lacks a lot of the supporting documentation I’ve gathered over the past year and a half. It also has a rather fast timeline, mostly because I like the idea of having a document that is ambitious and uses “2010.” I also hope that a tablet/UMPC manufacturer will have some kind of a deal on pricing to offer a district willing to purchase 45,000 or so units. The lessons shown are from an early brainstorming session that I had with some of my fellow faculty members. I really wish I could’ve been at WIPTE and seen the work being done, especially the presentations on tablets and geology, a subject I teach.

Most of all, I really want the idea to go forward and be successful. As always, feel free to share your thoughts.

PS: Major thanks to all the other tablet/UMPC sites out there (a complete list is in the map under (“Places to go to learn more about Tablet Pc’s”)