Are One-to-One Laptop Programs Worth the Investment?
http://www.districtadministration.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=1883
Administrators are learning that a successful program requires more than financing.
By Eamonn O’Donovan
February 2009
This Gist of this article really emphasizes how important it is to establish a culture that is receptive to the use of laptop computers as a learning tools.
This is an excellent series of articles that discuss all facets of implementing a 1:1 laptop initiative in schools. Principal Eamonn O’Donovan tells about her experiences spearheading an initiative to place as many laptop computers in the ands of students in grades 3-8 as possible.
I particularly found this article interesting because Lawfield School in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board is wanting to embark on a similar mission. We are planning to implement a 1:1 laptop program for one classroom starting at Grade 6 the first year. Like O’Donovan in California, we do not have the funding to provide a computer for every student, and the concept is not being supported at the board or provincial level. As in California, our school is going to simply provide as many computers as we can to other classrooms.
In the California school, within two years, 60% of students had brought a laptop from home to use at school. Students in this environment worked in a project type environment and were using computers during day-today instruction.
I found it interested to read the types of challenges faced by the administrator of the California School. The biggest challenge was to convince the parents and communities to this was a viable type of learning. She said that even after two years, the problems of support are even bigger because of spotty implementation and now because of the substantial outlay of the capital involved, the policy makers are taking a harder look at laptop programs.
As well as some of the financial concerns as well as lack of knowledge in the area of computer based implementation, the school in California did not show significant improvement in test scores. This was highlighted in a New York Times Article entitled “Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops”.
Like O’Donovan, I do not think that standardized scores is the best way to measure the effectiveness of laptop implementation in schools. People want to see IMMEDIATE results. yet With the use of web 2.0 tools and 1:1 laptop driven school initiatives, we may only see the benefits after several years.
“If you ask how laptops improve test scores, you are asking the wrong question”. Says the principal of the school.
This Gist of this article really emphasizes how important it is to establish a culture that is receptive to the use of laptop computers as a learning tools.