Catherine's Blog for ECI 511

As a language arts teacher, I have always loved computers. Not only are they great for research, they are a lifesaver when it comes to compositions. Students are much more motivated when they can type their papers and they are much easier for me to read and grade.(No more late night deciphering of someone's strange handwriting.) I especially like the way I can sneak in a final edit by requiring my students to handwrite their paper before they type it. The problems I have faced have always come from availability or lack thereof. I have often thought that it would be easier to schedule diplomatic appointments than it is to schedule the computer lab. Imagine my delight when my school purchased four wireless laptop carts that housed fifteen computers each. I was especially thrilled when ELA teachers were given priority scheduling privileges. The ELA department doesn't always get the breaks, you know.

However, our problems were just beginning. Sure, we could use the laptops whenever we wanted, but it was not smooth sailing. In a computer lab, the time constraint helps you. In a classroom with unlimited use, there is not as strict a time constraint. You cannot imagine the stress of a classroom of twenty-six or more students working on their final drafts of compositions. We are talking about middle school students to whom fast means the speed of light, spell check means never having to reread your paper, and finished product means the craziest font you can find at 72pt. Add to this the technical glitches such as printing problems, batteries going dead, and sharing one laptop among three classes. Remember, this is middle school where 'accidents' happen frequently, friends change daily, and confidentiality is as foreign as moon rocks. Although most students had been exposed to computers via their exploratory, laptops were relatively novelties. There had to be another answer.

The answer to most of the problems came when reading Research: What it says About 1 to 1 Learning, a report compiled by Apple Computer, Inc. This report details an initiative done in Maine and Virginia whereby each student at a school is given a laptop to use for the year. By this I mean the students actually get to take the computers with them wherever they go. Of course there are insurance and parent training issues, but the bottom line is that kids take ownership of the laptop. This automatically defuses the problems with other students tampering with projects.

In my classroom, individual laptops would fit nicely with the reading/writing workshop that I already incorporate. This is a strategy based on Nancie Atwell?s In the Middle. The concept is simple. Students spend their class time working on independent projects. Students decide what type of project they want to complete. In the writing version, everyone has a certain number of projects they must complete to get their grades. Instruction occurs through fifteen to twenty minute mini-lessons, then students spend the rest of the time working on their projects.

Without individual laptops, all students had to be finished with their projects at the same time so that we could type their final products. This put quite a damper on the ?work at your own pace? atmosphere that I had strived to create. With each student having their own laptop, this would not be a problem. The other benefit that I could see in my classroom is that the more advanced students could go further without the constraint of waiting for ?computer week.?