1:1 laptops in schools
"...technology is often embraced by philanthropists and political leaders as a quick fix, only to leave teachers flummoxed about how best to integrate the new gadgets into curriculum."
For some time I've had mixed feelings about the one-to-one laptop program. And now that we're coming up on petitioning the legislature for another $5 million I'm thinking and reading even more about it. While I agree it's great for students to have exposure to modern tools in the classroom, the idea of buying one laptop for every student, regardless of their capability or need, seems a bit "out there", even for me. Like many, I've gone along with the concept because there's so much press and pressure (hype) in favor of it in our state. The article linked below makes sense to me. Teachers, as usual, are behind the curve. But now, according to that article, there seem to be more and more reports of the one-to-one not actually improving test scores.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?_r=1&pagewante...
I saw and read the article above a few days ago - and I'm in the same camp: squirrely. I think that if the infrastructure was there, it'd work great. Here's what I think would have to happen for success:
- Tech staff have to be trained on how to properly configure the laptops to get the desired behavior prior to rollout.
- Mandatory proxy server for the laptops available, serving requests only to those laptops
- Increased tech staff in order to handle the demands of questions, general tech support, infrastructure bring up, hardware repair, reimaging, etc
- Training time for teaching staff. Without having the teachers aware of what all this new-fangled technology can do for their class, I think the laptop would just become at best a notebook in the class, at worst a major distraction, forced to sit unused in the backpack. Training would have to be ongoing. As most teachers that I know of are already working beyond their contract, they would not be very amenable to working extra training days without pay.
- Laptop / computer orientation for students as well
The cynic in me feels that what is most likely to happen is that schools will get the money for laptops only, not for additional staff or teaching staff training time, purchase the laptops, put them in service for a period of time, and after a short while they will fall out of service due to inappropriate usage on the part of the student, hardware failure, fiat by teachers and administrators who see them as a distraction.
Apple and other hardware vendors undoubtedly are pushing this hard. After all, they are in it to sell laptops and get students using their products from an early age. This is to be expected - after all, how many computer labs have you seen donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation? Personally I've seen many, and while I thank them for their efforts, it's not from totally altruistic intentions. Charity is a good marketing tool. But what legislators, administrators, and school boards need to realize is that to properly get a laptop program in place, the whole picture must be taken into consideration. How tech savvy is their teaching staff? Do they have enough technology staff on the payroll? Do they have a good knowledge base that they can contract with in the event of problems? Does their current infrastructure support the new laptops? Have they a proper implementation plan in place? What will they use to measure success? How often will they have to replace the laptops (regularly scheduled)? Will there be money in the future for expected repairs and replacements?
if there exists an answer to all those questions, I would be in full support. Otherwise it seems just a waste of money.
kids don't need their own laptops.
teachers don't even need their own laptops.
after supporting ARCTIC for as long as i did, this was clear as crystal.
colin, you are right - the hardware falls out of good condition hard/software-wise and becomes an expensive hockey puck.
i have two words for you on this debate: THIN CLIENTS.
this config solves all kinds of dilemmas and if the kid wants/needs to do homework at home, then create some kind of subsidized program to get them a deal on one if their folks can't afford it.
in the classroom, tho, the aching majority of TEACHERS don't even know what they're doing with a laptop, so asking them to re-think what the students will do with one is too tall of an order.
districts will spend money styling out a super with the latest shit but will not spend any to create a sustainable model for this - have any of you ever seen one that lasted? even if the ball gets rolling, in AK the turnover is sooo high that there is no consistency for such programs.
this is, of course, based on my experience and even i know things can change.
where and when, however, is anyone's guess. until then, THIN CLIENTS or some other virtualized environment for all of it, IMO. it's the only way to manage that many nodes given limited staff and also focuses the training into a nice, tight area that can be taught quickly and uniformly to anyone who comes in. also makes managing licensing, et al much much MUCH more manageable.
colin, while we corresponded over the summer you praised the performance of Terminal Services clients in use during ANSWER. what are the pros/cons of this in your opinion? how would/could laptops improve the experience other than mobility? is mobility that important of a feature for this type of application?
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thin clients work great in a LAN type environment, but I think the latency involved over long distances may be a bit troubling. While great for maintenance, people will realize that the chunkiness is less than optimal. And they would still need access to a machine, something that the one for one program is trying to eliminate.
I think that a good web application suite might be the strong option, with a total web environment, from blog, to project page, to student information page, to online applications such as word processing and spreadsheet, would be the ticket. I know that this doesn't address the concern of access to hardware, but I wonder if diverting some of the money from school 1:1 program to more community efforts such as libraries might be a better source of funds.
I also wonder about the OLPC initiative, which details a laptop with a ~$200 price tag might be ideal, something that could work great as a general purpose tool, be cheap to operate, maintain, and upgrade. I wonder too if subsidizing computers and internet access for low income homes, subsidized computer classes for all, and wi-max community internet access might be a better usage of the money. I'm not sure if people in the US have looked into those options. With the availability of free operating systems, application software out there the financial burden is shifted onto the hardware, the technical support, training, and community programs.