Sally Phillips on Technology Integration in the Classroom
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Sunday June 11, 2006
Blog #2 A Laptop in Every Lap
Laptops! If money were not an object, in my current teaching situation, a laptop for every student would be the ideal situation. I am sure it is not necessary to describe a laptop or its obvious advantages over a behemoth desktop. But in this posting I would like to make the case for a 1:1 ratio of laptops to students as opposed to a few desktops, or trying to guess what day every student will be ready to go to the computer lab.
Just as a brief overview?let me tell you that my in addition to my 18 students, my classroom must accommodate desk space for 27 pieces of machinery. This does not include computers. I teach Apparel Development and Interior Design. In both courses we need as much table surface as we can get to spread out our materials. I have begun to rely on the Internet for resources for both classes in terms of accessing course materials, grades, reviewing for tests, and for research. My use of computers for my students has been restricted by the number available, or the ineffectiveness of having to move down to the computer lab. Currently I have 3 laptops for student use?that I just recently received. It has made it possible to for students to access Internet information to incorporate into their classwork as easily as getting a book off the shelf.
There has been much debate over the issue of providing a 1:1 ratio of student to equipment. Two reports that I will use to support my thoughts are ?Research? What It Says About 1 to 1 Learning? sponsored by Apple Computers and ?Lessons Learned About Providing Laptops for All Students? by Alejandra Bonifaz & Andrew Zucker. The Apple Computer study reported that when all students had access to computers their teachers believed that they could carry out more complicated assignments. They believed that the assignments would be done more in-depth. Laptops would allow technology to be used throughout the course, not just a few times. Since many students are so accomplished at using the computers, it would allow them to produce more complex work. The article also concludes that when every student has access to a laptop, that in addition to working on the curriculum that the students are increasing their technology skills at a faster pace than those in a 2:1 or 4:1 ratio classroom. Both articles stress the importance of deciding upon an academic objective rather than having the technology use as the objective.
Already, with the addition of the 3 new laptops, it has opened up the possibilities of what students can do in my classroom. When finished with an assignment, students can go to some web sites for review activities. They can create embroidery designs to be carried out later. They can use Blackboard to catch-up on missed work, or visit web sites for interactive opportunities with some of the course competencies. My Interior Design class depends a great deal on outside information. It is not possible to bring all of the information into the classroom. On some website students can ?paint? rooms or houses. On others they can draw floor plans. No muss?no fuss?Quickly and easily they are practicing the activities that go along with the curriculum. Even if I have to get them just one at a time, I will continue to request laptops to make my courses and technology seamless.
Posted at 06:25PM Jun 11, 2006 by PHILLIPS, SALLY in General | Comments[0]
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