By a stroke of good fortune I met Bob Johnstone a couple of years ago. Bob had written a wonderful book titled Never Mind the Laptops which told the story of the introduction of computers into schools, with particular reference to the implementation of a laptop program at Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC) in Melbourne.
I’d read about the book in The Age and sent Bob an email at the time. I didn’t know him – I’d just seen his contact details tacked onto the tail end of the article. Bob, who lives in Melbourne, wrote back immediately to tell me that the book was only available from the States, despite the fact that Melbourne featured prominently. I ordered it from Amazon. It soon arrived and I had a wonderful time dipping into it and reading about some of the people I knew who had featured in its pages. These included Gary Stager, an amazing guy I was fortunate enough to meet back in 1990 at a conference and who continues to inspire me and make me think about what I’m doing with computers in schools, and also David Dimsey, who I was fortunate enough to work with for several years and who also remains an inspiration to me.
A year or two later, out of the blue, I was contacted by Bob Johnstone. He had been referred to speak to me by Josie Hopkins. Josie is another friend and inspirational educator who has taught me much about how kids learn with technology. Now I’m very fortunate to be working at the same school as Josie. Anyway, back to Bob Johnstone. I arranged to meet him at school at the beginning of the holidays and talk to him about some of the stuff we’d been doing with computers in the upper primary classes. We had a great chat and, hopefully, a profitable one for Bob. He told me that he was working on a new book that would be full of great ideas for teachers with computers in their classrooms.
I showed Bob a few things we’d been doing and offered to burn him a CD containing some work samples. He said Yes, that would be good, so I ejected the music CD from my notebook computer to put a blank disc in. Bob took one look at the music CD and made a comment about the band I’d been listening to. This, of course, got me talking about my love of music. Bob joined in enthusiastically and soon we discovered a mutual love of the same artists. Just when I thought the interview was over, we got talking all over again, especially when we realised that we were both Richard Thompson fans who had attended the same Melbourne show a few years earlier.
So from that chance encounter, we became good mates who have kept in touch. We discuss two topics – music and educating kids with technology. It’s been a very enjoyable relationship and I hope it continues for a long time. Recently Bob was good enough to take me along to see Los Lobos at the Forum. We stood just a couple of metres from the stage all night – brilliant, inspirational stuff. Here’s a pic, taken on my mobile phone, of David Hidalgo.
Today I received an email from Bob. His new book I Have Computers in My Classroom – Now What? has just been published by Heinemann. I can’t wait to see it. I know I’ll be quoted a few times. Better still, having read and thoroughly enjoyed Never Mind the Laptops, I know Bob is a great writer with a deep understanding of how technology can enhance teaching and learning. I’ve heard him speak with passion about the great teachers he has interviewed and the wonderful things that are happening in their classrooms. There is no doubt this book will be well received in schools. Bob has literally ‘picked the brains’ of a number of leading classroom practitioners and distilled their collective wisdom in a neat little volume. I have read an early draft and I thought it was great. The introduction is written by Gary Stager, who has played such a pivotal role in developing laptop learning in schools all around the world.
To view details of Bob Johnstone’s book, click here.
