About those laptops…
Tom and Miguel have been hashing out some of the problems with putting laptops in school.
Since we’ve been getting a supply of laptops together in the building where I work, I’d say that between the sharing between classrooms, and the charging up, and the DON’T DROP THOSE THINGS problems, which is related to the cost of a single unit, not to mention figuring out how to find age-appropriate, curriculum-relevant things to do with them…I can’t think of a single example of educational technology that has had less of an impact on teaching than computers in the classroom.
I’ve been teaching since before the internet, since before the era of the green screen, even. Remember the AppleII’s? The biggest problem for teachers through all this tortured history has been that it’s hard to introduce a classroom full of kids to new ideas when they can’t all try things at the same time. Another problem is that frequent operating system upgrades and different software versions have made it next to impossible to develop lessons that stand the test of time, or that even work with the hodgepodge of equipment we have on hand at any given time. We don’t even need to think about networking problems.
To help Miguel think about what an effective 1:1 laptop initiative might look like, maybe we should think about technology that has had a notable impact on school life. Here’s my list:
- The photocopier;
- The videocassete player;
- The overhead projector.
Each of those things has been easy to understand, simple to operate, and provides for mass dispersal of information instantly.
The 35mm projector, the ditto machine, and the film strip projector are all gone. They were too clunky.
Before laptops will make a difference in schools,
- they need to be bomb proof. It shouldn’t matter if they are dropped. Think Fisher Price.
- They have to be easy to understand, with a relatively stable feature set that doesn’t require constant retraining.
- They need to be networked and easily recharged.
- They have to be cheap enough for everyone to have one.
- We need a curriculum that recognizes their place in the classroom.
What have I overlooked?
Tom Hoffman wrote,
Clear standards and limited liability for dealing with accessing inappropriate content, cyberbullying, etc.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Doug Johnson wrote,
Doug,
I like your list. This was mine at the beginning of the school year:
Weighs less than two pounds?
Runs at least eight hours on a battery charge?
Is 802.11x compliant?
Can be dropped without breaking?
Comes only with a full featured web browser for software?
Has a screen that can be read for a long time without eyestrain?
And sells at a price point most parents can afford – let’s say under $200?
http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2006/8/19/disappointed-again-this-year.html
I’m optimistic we will be seeing one that meets these criteria soon. I am not as optimistic that it will have a major impact on schools. But I have been wrong before.
All the best and keep up the wonderful writing!
Doug
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
A. Mercer wrote,
Hmm, some of the problems listed are general computer problems (they would be true for desktops in a regular classroom, or with computer in labs), while other problems (charge up, fragility, etc.) are problems peculiar to laptops.
The biggest issue in looking at computers in the classroom, it how do you set up the management, and how do you set up the teaching. Those are questions you have to ask with any teaching unit or any tool you use in the classroom.
BTW, we still use risographs (souped up mimeo/ditto machines) extensively in my school district, even though they are not always cost effective for runs of under 20 copies (all our K-3 classes are 20-1). The copy machine is only for single copies or smaller sets of copies.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Marco Polo wrote,
I assume you’ve heard of Nicholas Negroponte’s OLPC scheme: interview, British Independent’s science correspondent Sep 2005 article, and London Times Online correspondent tries one out at a expo Feb 2007.
The 2005 article says that The Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, has also committed to buying half a million of the machines for distribution to lower-income school students in the state. Which is a good sign, I guess, altho in the zero-sum mentality that reigns supreme in your illustrious country, providing children with these will be interpreted as Robin Hood tactics to steal money away from more deserving (i.e., rich) companies like My Crows Oft.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Sarah Mcintosh Puglisi wrote,
Can I ask a question?
Are we talking about kids with access at home? Or not at all?
There is a world of difference …..when teaching children with no home systems, I listened to Negroponte, or the concept in San Diego a bit ago.It sounded so possible.I am very frustrated with children in poverty without this capability.
I fashioned a site at http://myteacherpages.com/webpages/shomepuglisi/
if I remember my url two years ago in third and just played around putting on songs, class things, sites (it’s very loaded but not so pretty maybe) and each week giving the kids a task or five choices on my Monday AM computer time in a lab with all on the site. We did a great many Directed Lessons there on Word and other formats too.. I cheated the system of a canned workbook figuring no one would notice (was yelled at)and they used this site during the week at 3 computers in my then 3rd grade. That class was not a Sheltered Immersion, not as poor…11 of 20 had internet access at home. I really did have by years end (and have the stats) 10,000 hits. No one at my school praised this, noticed this, thought it meant squat.I would say things, it was as if i was talking to no one. And believe me no one was innovating or using it at all. It might as well be better spent on vacuums or overheads. That still shocks me. In fact they were really dismissive. I was not only shocked, I was frankly about to quit. A review team in the audit singled me out for it with lavish praise and this was how I regained perspective. I think building a site at such a place would then be a great way to frame how to go in and then use your laptops. Anyway I can see so many ideas….. It wasn’t accessible to the outside. Not blogging either but I didn’t know of that then. I found out about blogs when I started mine and I’m still very unsure how to use them . It was really very successful but I worked hours, now with the blocking I’m not doing this but next year I will again address it. If I’d had laptops, wow would my life be easier as we could do writing …la la…. sorry…lost my point.
For my kids this is something they just don’t get at home…
When I see my husband’s school then i think, well they have it at home and maybe the relationship is so different.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
susan funk wrote,
I think the issue for me comes back to computers for whom? I believe that we need to integrate technology into the curriculum for all kids, at all levels, in all kinds of neighbourhoods. It’s about creating and sharing cultural capital. Is it feasible, will it make a difference? I don’t know. I simply know that the education, background and knowledge that my 6 year old has surpassed that of many of the nine year olds I taught last year. He is more creative, has a better understanding of story and pattern and eats, sleeps and gets more exercise.
I don’t know if the public school 1-1 laptop can make a difference with these issues but I can’t see that sitting by without is going to help either.
I’m torn. Kids who need adequate nutrition, sleep and overall care, will it really make a difference if they have access to a laptop? Even if it is drop-proof, takes an 8 hour charge, weighs less than 2 pounds, etc. etc.
In a seminar the other day, we were discussing the curriculum, my comment - “Teach them to read and give them exercise, what more do they need”?
And I believe in technological integration. It is very hard to do creative and interesting things with too few computers. One per classroom and a library lab of 30, such as seems to be the case in my husband’s high school of 1500 students, doesn’t quite cut it. We’re trying to do a blog and a wiki and honestly were having trouble getting it off the ground. All the students have at home access but the school access is pathetic. We have better resources in the elementary schools where I’ve been and it’s the same division!
Sorry, kind of a rambling comment. I’m with you on overheads and photocopiers. My mother was an elementary teacher. She remembers going in to school to copy the work pages onto the blackboard before class. What a relief when they got a Gestetner! I can’t imagine it.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Mark Ahlness wrote,
They need to be wanted, craved even, by the teachers who will use them with their kids. Those teachers need to have a vision for their use before they arrive.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Learning Is Messy - Blog » Blog Archive » One : One Laptop Ramblings wrote,
[...] started this conversation - Tom and Doug have jumped in … here are my [...]
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
OllieBray wrote,
Hi Doug, I think you will be interested in this Scottish project http://islayian.blogspot.com/2007/03/barcampscotland-chaos-theory-in-action.html
Let me know what you think, Ollie
Link | March 14th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Tom Hoffman wrote,
While there are no actual plans to sell the OLPC laptop in the US at this point (we’re especially hampered in this regard by our still quite decentralized educational system (not that I’m not in favor of local control in general, it just makes it hard to get the economy of scale OLPC his hoping to leverage)), it is the obvious reference point. I’ve gotten to spend some time with the hardware, and it inspires confidence. I’m a little more concerned about the software at this point, however.
Link | March 14th, 2007 at 10:04 am
JimMc wrote,
“The 35mm projector, the ditto machine, and the film strip projector are all gone. They were too clunky.”
No, they weren’t clunky for their time. They were just replaced with superior technology.
“Before laptops will make a difference in schools…”
…then laptops will apparently have to become everything they are currently not. Hope it doesn’t take too long.
In the meantime, give me either some virtual reality goggles or rows and rows of those sit-in type video arcade machines. After all, if it’s just about getting kids in front of a GUI, then the enclosure shouldn’t matter, should it?
Link | March 14th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Doug Noon wrote,
The 8 desktop machines in my classroom need an average of 4 square feet each plus room for a chair and a body to sit in front of them. With barely enough room for just the desks and 28 kids in the room this year, it seems to me that the enclosure does matter. Compact, portable, durable, cheap, and an education-focused feature set do, in fact, seem to describe “everything that they are currently not.” I’m hoping for a US focused OLPC initiative.
I remember trying to thread the film into the projector…It was clunky, even if it was the best we could do at the time. Ditto fluid, also a mess. Clearing jams in the copy machine, nowadays, that is a pain as well. But, still, that copy machine gets immediate attention when it goes down. The computers sit for days and weeks sometimes with the work orders taped to them. Those desktop units are starting to look clunky, too, next to the mobile lab that rolls into the room with a class set of machines on board.
Link | March 14th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Ev wrote,
It seems to me that way to much attention is payed to personal computer literacy. Actually, all the problems discussed above pertain to just that. Yet kids are taught driving not maintaining a car.
Why not focus on making kids proficient in using technology to find and share information? With the advent of Internet 2.0 applications that rival PC based ones it becomes easy.
Link | March 15th, 2007 at 6:06 am
Ken wrote,
I would have to agree with Ev, we must get students using a social networking community in the classroom like they are using outside of school. I just heard a teacher tell me recently that kids are plugging in after school and unplugging to come to school.
This weekend I found a new website called TeacherTube.com. I think this site has potential I plan to upload some of my lessons to share with kids. I have read that there is a way to create private groups. I plan to create a group for my class.
I will keep you posted on whether or not TeacherTube is worth using in the class or not but it definately has the fell of web 2.0 for schools.
Link | March 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Peter Rock wrote,
They need to run a FOSS-based operating system. Some students will explore those machines thoroughly and should have the opportunity to innovate on the software their peers use. Proprietary offerings (no, you can’t learn about this software unless you sign a statement promising not to share) run counter to any sane philosophical position on education and pedagogy in general.
Link | April 3rd, 2007 at 7:44 am