Internet_research_for_students. Assessment. Always On. One Laptop One Child. By Wayne D'Orio | September/October 2008 One to one?
The request was simple, but it still managed to put its finger on one of the most intriguing technology questions inside K–12 schools today. It was just after the winter holiday break last year and a student in the Bremerton, Washington, school district came back to school eager to show off one of his presents. Only this wasn’t a new shirt or even a fancy smartphone: It was a laptop and he wanted to not only show it off, but use it in class.
The district’s policy didn’t allow for students to bring in their own computers and connect to the school’s network, and the administrators told the student that, says Jeff Allen, the educational technology director for Olympic Educational Service District 114. Across the country, the same question is being considered. “The whole thing with 1:1 is it’s going to happen regardless, in spite of us,” says Mark Klingler, the director of technology services for Forsyth (ga) County Schools. What’s the purpose of going 1:1 « The Thinking Stick. (Full Disclosure: I believe every high school student should have a laptop) The New York Times wrote an article on May 4th, 2007 that resurfaced via Twitter last night.
Titled Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops, It took me less than four paragraphs to start shaking my head in disbelief at the way this school district went about trying to, should I say, force students and teachers to use laptops and technology. It’s easy to say that technology is just a tool or that the technology needs to be invisible, but actually making that happen is harder than just saying it. Scores of the leased laptops break down each month, and every othermorning, when the entire school has study hall, the network inevitablyfreezes because of the sheer number of students roaming the Internetinstead of getting help from teachers. I love this paragraph. Or how about this one: The reason why a school goes 1:1 is to close the digital divide? What do you want students to do? What do teachers need to know? A One-to-One Future. Ubiquitous technology is essential, and here's proof it works.
Credit: Tom Greaves Note: Guest columnist Tom Greaves, chairman of the Greaves Group, has worked for over three decades in the field of educational technology. This article, which originally appeared the Strategic News Service newsletter, will run in two installments over the next two weeks. Milton Chen's regular bimonthly column will resume on November 29. Throughout the world, one of the deepest wishes of parents is that their children be well educated.
In the United States, the U.S. Teachdigital / onetoone. A One-to-One Future. The Ubiquitous Technology Dream. Talks (audio, video) Student Materials. Inspirational Talking Points Justifying 1:1 Computing. Ubiquitous Thoughts. Resources for Maine Teachers - Introduction. eSchool News online.