Thursday June 01, 2006
Blog #2 Laptops
Description of Tool/Resource/Strategy
Every student having either a laptop or a tablet pc allows equal access to technology, both the hardware and the needed software. Students, regardless of socio-economics, would be able to use the laptop/tablet to complete assignments that some students would otherwise not have the resources to complete.
Key Findings from Reading
In the ?Research: What It Says About 1 to 1 Learning? document (Apple), research on 1 to 1 initiatives are reviewed. The 1 to 1 computing initiative is to put a computer in every student?s hands, in school and/or at home. There were many aspects of this initiative discussed, including initiative goals, implementation, training, support, and research to date. Various implementations were discussed with mostly positive outcomes. However, the substance of this paper implies the necessity of more rigorous research to substantiate the positive effects of 1 to 1 computing initiatives.
In the Bonifaz/Zucker paper, ?Lessons Learned About Providing Laptops for All Studenst?, 1 to 1 computing (or ubiquitous computing) is again addressed. Five areas of concern are addressed to increase the success for these types of initiatives. Planning, the first category discussed, focuses on setting goals and aligning your policies and support to those goals. Strong leadership, the second area, stresses the need for a strong team at all levels. Funding is the third area and centers around the need for a long-term commitment to financing the initiative. Fourth, the development of partnerships, within and without the school, is presented. Fifth, and last, is the need for careful logistical planning whereby dealing with the day-to-day issues of the hardware/software is discussed. The article also discusses the need for training, as professional development for teachers and education for parents. The article also details concerns with regards to hardware and software as well as the required infrastructure for the campus and for the human characteristic of distaining change.
Reflection
As a teacher that is restricted by the students? resources at home, I am very much in favor of 1 to 1 computing. The schools that have implemented this change are freeing many students to access resources previously unattainable at home by most students. My computer programming students do not have access to the software from my classes, even if they have a computer at home. Therefore, my students cannot work on my assignments anywhere except my classroom (due to software licensing, it is not even available in the media center). Students needing to work a little slower, or wanting to go a little farther are then restricted or put a disadvantage. If my students had a laptop with the required software, they could program anywhere, when it was convenient for them to do so. Allowing students this resource would enable them. The student who needed it could take more time on an assignment. For example, I have an ESL student who, due to the language, works a little slower. He is entirely capable, yet hampered by the lack of the hardware/software at home, in the media center and in his ESL classroom (where the computer will not support my software).
Posted by lpkeller ( Jun 01 2006, 09:28:19 AM EDT ) PermalinkComments are closed for this entry.
This is a personal weblog, I do not speak for my employer.
