The Laptops are coming! The Laptops are coming!

At Kuspuk we have the same one-to-one laptop program the author talks about in this article. I actually know a couple teachers who would or could write this exact article. Basically, the author feels there are some serious downfalls to the program. Every point she brings up I have heard before, and I believe that the root of these problems is that many of the teachers have not been trained to teach in a way that takes advantage of these laptops as a tool for learning. Teacher training is essential to making this program work. It isn't necessary that teachers know how to use every program on the computers, but they do need a new set of classroom management skills, so that they can effectively use the laptops without spending their precious class time monitoring students to make sure they aren't playing games and goofing off. One misconception about the one-to-one program is that the kids need to have the laptops in use for every class assignment or project. Also, just because every student has their own laptop does not mean that students can't work together. The idea behind the one-to-one program is not that the computers will take over and become the only method of education, but it should be viewed as an extremely powerful tool for learning. Part of my research is to discover methods of teaching, using computers, that are effective so that I can share them with teachers in my district. As with any major change it will take time for the program to produce the type of results it is capable of. I personally feel more connected to many of my students thanks to Internet, e-mail, and social networking. It is all about how you use the tools you are given.

McFarlane, S. (2008). The laptops are coming! The laptops are coming!, Rethinking Schools, 22, 22-26