Information Technology has tremendous potential to improve teaching and learning. CA is committed to using technology in innovative and authentic ways to enhance learning and communication.
I believe that 1:1 computing, i.e. students bringing their own laptops to school, is one of the best ways to support teaching and learning. CA is currently exploring ways to become a laptop school in the near future.
I first taught in a 1:1 school in 2005 and from my experience I have found ample support for the list of advantages complied by Lorrie Jackson:
Increases achievement
One of the most popular rationales is that one-to-one computing increases student achievement.
Increases student engagement
Many educators say that attendance and student interest improves in classrooms using one-to-one technology. Certainly, a present and engaged student is the best type of student to have!
Complements project-based learning classroom
One-to-one technology is at its best in classrooms in which learning is driven by projects requiring research, collaboration, and production of a final product (a slide show, video, or Web page).
Broadens learning beyond the classroom
Time and distance no longer create barriers when students can access the world around them in an instant.
Takes advantage of the teachable moment
In a one-to-one computing classroom, a topic arises and teacher and students immediately are online, investigating, questioning, and extending the conversation with information and tools not available to them in other situations.
Prepares for tomorrow’s workplace
When a student’s only exposure to a computer is in a lab at the end of the hall, technology can be seen as a fragmented skill unrelated to daily life or a future career. One-to-one computing ensures that all students have the skills and confidence to integrate technology into their future, as well as their present.
Preliminary research is offering support for these observations, though no innovation is without problems.
CA plans to pilot a 1:1 Laptop program in 2009-10 and gather data about the how the program can enhance learning. Of course the laptop will not replace traditional teaching but it will provide me with a powerful tool to make learning more engaging.
I am asking for your feedback on these plans to teach IB Economic in a 1:1 laptop environment. Please post a comment, your ideas, suggestions and concerns are most welcome.
You might like to read this post which outlines common concerns associated with the introduction of 1:1 computing.
We believe that adding modern technology to today’s education is a benefit for all students. On the other hand, what we should not ignore is the fact that students tend to get distracted very easily. While in class, all students should give the teacher their undivided attention. Another concern is that, is it really worth it to carry and transport the laptop from home to school everyday? With this thought, come many other concerns. There is also a good chance that the laptop could be stolen. As parents, we do not see the necessity of buying our son a laptop at this time in his junior year. Financially speaking, we need to be aware of costs such as college fees and other expenses that we need to spend in the future, therefore we see no need in getting our son a laptop at this point.
With this program, Canadian Academy should consider the option of renting laptops to students. As parents, this option seems to be more sensible since it would also make the students more responsible as the laptops that they possess do not belong to them.
Doctor Anthony, I have just one question.
Numerous concerns about the downside of using laptops have been mentioned by many parents and students alike: the financial burden, the security issues, the inconvenience of having to carry them to school everyday, the concerns about distractions have all been mentioned repeatedly. But I only see, overall, about two benefits of using laptop for students. Don’t you think the downside outnumbers the benefits?
Dear Dr. Anthony,
I have a couple of concerns regarding the use of laptops as one of the most fundamental means of learning – were this to happen, of course.
The financial burden, the security issues, the inconvenience of having to carry them to school everyday, the concerns about distractions have all been mentioned repeatedly. But these obvious disadvantages aside, I would like to take a different vantage point to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of this 1:1 laptop program.
I will be blunt; I think excessive use of computers will have exceedingly deleterious consequences on students. I came to CA 4 years ago from South Korea, and I had studied at a Korean public school for many years. When I came to CA, I was rather surprised that most 7th and 8th graders were still having ‘problems’ with simple arithmetic. Now, some students may say: “What? I never had trouble with arithmetic.”
I’m sorry to say this, but the vast majority of CA students, in my opinion, do, or at least did at some point. I am ashamed to say that now even I feel like I am having minor troubles. I must clarify what I mean by “problems.” Of course, if you give a person who is relatively incompetent in math 10 minutes to figure out what 12 times 12 is, he or she will have no problem. When I say “problems”, I’m not just talking about understanding the concept but actually being able to do it at a reasonable speed and rate. I will be frank; in my 7th grade math class had to complete the multiplication table of up to 12 times 12, and the teacher would time us. I think most people finished it in 6, 7 minutes. I guarantee to you Japanese Elementary public school kids – most of them – can finish it in 2 or 3. I am very, very, very positive that our perennial over-dependence on calculators has debilitated our computation skills. I, personally, became much slower at calculating and solving math problems than I was in 7th grade when I first came here.
Now, I must acknowledge and concede that technology has its benefits, too. It allows us “faster” access to the cornucopia of resources and information on the web; it allows us “faster” note-taking and etc., However, I say it is only “faster” not more efficient. If students have laptops with them in class, yes, they will be able to take notes without missing any information, because, obviously, typing is much “faster” than hand writing for most students. But conversely, what must we do when we do not have access to that “faster” means to take notes? We learn to pick out the essential information, discard the less important, and consequently, during that process, learn to prioritize perceived information according to their pertinence. The purpose of note-taking is not to jot down every single word that comes out of the teacher’s mouth; it is to organize the provided material and information, make sense out of them intellectually and process them in our minds. My conclusion? Note taking by hand is more efficient & beneficial in the long run than doing so by using computers is.
I think I have heard over and over from various documentaries and TV shows that our brains, when we are using electronics, are not as “active” as they are when we are doing things that require mobility and maneuver of our body. I once read an article that a best way to “rote memorize” a bunch of information is to perceive visually, to write and to read it ‘out loud’ all at the same time. This, I think, shows how important, effective, and efficient a means of learning “hand writing” is. Frankly, if CA adopted the 1:1 laptop program, I would be happy – really happy. Why? It will make my life so much easier in many ways, just like being allowed to use calculators at school for the first time did when I transferred to CA. At the same time I have also witnessed how how I, myself, began to rely more and more on calculators, at times quite unnecessarily.
Now this is something interesting I discovered about a year or so ago. It’s something from a program called PISA. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial world-wide test of 15-year-old school children’s scholastic performance, the implementation of which is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The aim of the PISA study is to test and compare school children’s performance across the world, with a view to improving educational methods and outcomes.
In recent years, as globalization and the explosion of wealth and resources in previously underdeveloped nations have taken place, some countries seem to be outperforming other nations in areas of math, reading literacy, science, and problem solving. I’m sure the data is available on the internet, so please go ahead and look at it. I just wanted to point out that are some countries that consistently ranking in top 20 of these lists in almost every single area of learning I mentioned above. Finland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. Recognizing that the United States spends substantially larger amounts of money on education than any of these top-scoring nations do – both per capita and nationally – it is almost hard to believe that children from the U.S. are performing so poorly. In fact, what worries me the most, I think, is that our school education so closely resembles the conventional education system and methods that are widely employed in the United States, and our school, despite being in international school located in Japan, will little-by-little fall into the trajectory and trend of quagmire the U.S. education has gotten itself into.
My mom believes the idea sounds like a positive learning environment and she definitely supports laptops being used in the classroom. Her concern is that some students may have difficulty accessing laptops. She is also concerned that the computers will be a distraction, but that teachers monitoring the screens could also be a distraction. She wants to be sure that the laptops will indeed be a tool and not apprehend students and teachers attentiveness in class.
My parents think the 1:1 laptop program is a great way to ensure faster learning. Though it is convenient, they are also concerned about the distraction as everyone uses their computers for social networking as well. Distractions with the laptops could hinder learning rather than encourage.
My parents have said that the school should be able to provide the pioneer class laptops for the 1:1 program. Although the japanet, japan’s television shop, has released laptops for 9800 yen so that may be affordable for students unable to buy new laptops for college.
I’m glad to see so many families weighing in on such an important discussion.
I’d like to add that any good teacher, no matter what the tools used in their classroom, should be well versed in strategies to quell any distracted behaviour in students. I would hope that no matter how content is delivered, our teachers at CA would be tuned in enough to each student and aware of how they spend their class time.
One important myth of 1:1 laptop programs is that it replaces face time with teachers; I think we all value the student-teacher interaction that makes CA a vibrant and successful learning institution. The hope, of course, with any such pilot, is to find ways to make our school and her students even more successful and prepared for the future that awaits them.
I believe this is a great opportunity for our children.
My parents both think that the 1:1 Laptop program will be a key tool in helping Canadian Academy’s overall education become more effective. Although they are concerned with the distractions that come with it. They are hoping that computers will be monitored at all times so that other distracting programs will not be used during class time (e.g FaceBook, Hotmail) and that the computer will be put to good use as it intends to be. My parents are buying a new laptop in one or two weeks time.
My parents said it’s not good idea to use laptops during class because it is certainly distracting.
I believe 1:1 computing is a fantastic idea and the students are very lucky to have a teacher who has years of experience with it. I think it will widen their horizon by introducing them to a completely different and new way a class can function.
It will also give the students the chance to learn discipline in the way they study and stay on task and to become responsible individuals.
My parents are willing to support CA and this “1:1 laptop program” as long as the administration and the teachers are absolutely certain of it’s advantages. They are not willing for us to be the guinea pigs of a “social experiment”. This is a fairly radical change in our classroom education, and there are certainly many potential problems in this new program.
Of all the potential problems, they are most concerned about the distractions that the students may find on the laptop. They are aware that many highschoolers can’t stay away from social networking sites and chats such as Facebook and MSN. They want to know if the teachers can actually monitor all laptops in the classroom, and make sure that the students are on task.
My parents will support this program and buy me a new laptop if and only if they are assured that this is a proven upgrade from the regular notebook-and-pencil classroom.
This is my Junior year, perhaps the most important of all years, and they are not willing to take an unnecessary risk in my education.
I am also personally worried about some aspects of this 1:1 laptop program. Although I would like to believe that CA is a safe an theft-free environment, many things have been stolen before. I would try to the best of my abilities to keep my laptop safe, but I am hesitant to risk $1000+ and all my notes/homework/information by bringing my laptop to school every day.
Also, many students live far from the school and bringing a laptop to school in addition to all their textbooks, notebooks and musical instruments would be very inconvenient. Perhaps if all classes adopted this laptop program, students will only be required to bring their laptops, but for now we still need to bring our regular material for classes such as math, science, english, and history.
Teenagers also tend to be quite careless, and carrying their laptops to school every day may cause damage to the laptop itself. Although personally, I will try to be as careful as possible I’m sure the school is going to receive many complaints from parents whose children have had their laptops broken at school.
Although both my parents and I are worried, if CA firmly and surely believes that the advantages outweigh the problems, we will support this program.
My parents think the 1:1 program has many benefits and is a great idea, however since I commute to school from Kyoto everyday which takes about an hour and a half they are concerned about the risk of the laptops being damaged or broken.
I think laptops will be beneficial to students, but I am a litte concerned that it is heavy to bring to school everyday, and that some students have their laptops stolen or lost.
Dear Dr. Anthony,
I don’t think I could agree to the use of one-to-one technology. First, when some problem occurs with a computer, technical or otherwise–and problems do arise more often than one would hope for–it will be a big distraction and very stressful. The student will be worried about the computer rather than being able to focus on the material being taught and discussed in class.
Equally important is the fact that students already do all their work and research on computers after school and for a long period of time. During school is a valuable time when students can personally interact with their teachers and classmates. We do need to take into consideration not only the benefits of technology, but also the negative impact overliance on computers can have and the demerits of excessive use of technology.
In our family, we have had more than just one hard drive crashes–it happens with quite new computers as well. Accidents can also happen, and as many students commute to school by train or bus, I believe it would be unnecessary to have an additional task on families and students of keeping a computer health and in good working order outside the home.
Are many colleges already using this technology? Would our students be less prepared for their first year of college if they do not have an introduction to the 1:1 program now in high school? I think being familiar with new technology/computer skills will put our students at an advantage for their college years and will be essential to their future professions.
My two main concerns about the program:
Anyone experiencing computer problems during class time not being able to follow along in class or not having access to necessary class information due to a tempermental computer and lacking written class notes to refer to at home.
Since our family lives 45 minutes from CA, I too am concerned about my daughter lugging the computer home on the days she travels by train, especially on days we cannot offer her a ride and she has to make the 12-15 minute up-hill walk to our house.
Dear Dr. Anthony,
I believe that my daughter is very fortunate to have this new way of learning, the 1:1 Laptop program. She will be able to comment, ask questions, or ask for some advice from you whenever anything comes up to her mind. I would like to encourage her to maximize her ability by using this program since I feel Economics is very dynamic and keeps progressing even now. I have some concerns for bringing her own laptop everyday to school. Her or our privacy might be disturbed, or her laptop itself might be stolen. I’m wondering how the security issue could be solved at school. Other than that, I am in favor of this program and looking forward to seeing how my daughter is doing in your class. I’m highly expecting that the Laptop program would effectively work when we have a long school closing such that we experienced in May, 2009 because of the swine flu.
My mom says that she’s worried about students using computer. It might be too distracting for me and cause me not to pay attention during however, computers are important sources these days so my mom is like in between to the idea about 1:1 computer systems.
I am strongly opposed to high school students bringing laptops into the classroom for a number of reasons, not limited to those I will list here. 1) I send my child to school happy in the thought that for a least a few hours in the day he is not sitting in front of a screen of one sort or another. I do not want him to enjoy the same access he has to the Internet at home when he is at school. 2) CA students go to school with backpacks so loaded down with textbooks that they are practically decking people right and left as they get on and off of public transportation. I wonder how they are supposed to manage with a computer in addition to all of their textbooks, lunch items, sports gear, etc. 3) Over the years we have kept our home computers up to date, at no small expense, to support our children’s educational needs. There is no way we can now put out to buy a laptop having recently purchased a very nice desktop for our son. 4) We have always given our children a laptop as a high school graduation present, knowing that they will need it in college. That laptop will have to last them until they graduate from college. Buying one at this point, when our youngest has only one year of high school left, is out of the question. 5) Meeting the steadily-rising tuition fees at CA has taken a considerable toll on our family over the past 15 years, but I’ve always felt it was worth the sacrifices we have had to make because of the high quality of education our three children have received there. The excellent computer labs are part of what we are paying for, and I am delighted to know that my children have access to this high-tech equipment at school. However, I do not believe they need to be hooked into their computers during class time, nor do I feel it is fair to be asked to shoulder that expense in addition to the steadily rising tuition fees. I have been very impressed with the outstanding teachers my children have been fortunate enough to study under over their years at CA. I would far prefer my children to be looking at and interacting with their teachers and classmates during class than to be looking at a computer screen. 6) A laptop is too expensive to carry to school every day. I would be very interested in hearing statistics on loss, theft and breakage of laptops among high school students who bring them to class on a daily basis.
My parents agree that the 1:1 laptop program that the class is introducing this year would indeed allow students to learn economics by interacting with the subject through technology. However, they fear that this program may not prove too effective as students may not be entirely focused in class and so incorporating technology in class could possibly hinder their learning experience. My parents think that as long as students use all of their time in class with their personal computers wisely just for economics, then the program could surely benefit the students.
Moreover, another concern my parents have is the inconvenience of commuting to school with laptops several times a week.
The 1:1 Laptop Program seems to show great promise especially in the use of technology to enhance education. However we must be cautious of the possibility that the students may abuse the usage of their personal laptops, since they have more time and access to the internet, not only for school purposes. We agree it would be a great tool for education, but as concerned parents, we hope that you would help ensure that the students are properly guided against its use and abuse (i.e. surfing on non-academic sites).
My mom says that she’s not too comfortable about allowing labtop usage in school. Of course, reason is always about the distracting factor such as msn and facebook. However, my mom said she will be very open to the usage of labtop if school can strictly regulate about student using msn or facebook during the school time. Summing up her point, she will be happy to say yes to this system if school can regulate the students. I, myself, strong support the usage of labtop because it’s much faster. Back in my old school, I did EVERYTHING with the computer just because it’s fast.
No concerns to use laptops. Content is key.
I personally like the idea of leveraging technology for kids learning. However, it is not clear to me what are the key purposes of laptop. If it is to access information, is there anyway for CA to have sufficient number of computers at economics class? if it is to store documents/data, have we explored options to have the sites for them? As mentioned by some parents, I am also concerned kids have to bring laptop back and forth, not only since laptop is fragile but it means kids will have to bring heavy weight everyday (plus all the text books). While for this year, my daughter happen to have her own laptop, it would be financial burden for us for other two kids later.
My two most concerns regarding this idea is finance and security. I currently own an iMac at home, which has more hardware and capabilities than I require. Purchasing a new laptop, with decent speed, functions, and battery, just so I could be more efficient for one hour or two a day isn’t enough of a reason to purchase one. I would rather take notes and do research on my iPod touch rather than spending $999 for a Mac Book which will mostly make the bag I carry all day, heavier. And I am not spending $1,499 on a Mac Book Air. On top of that, laptops are fragile and once damaged, it consumes too much time and money to repair.
With all the distraction concerns that students and their parents have, I am assuming that experienced teachers would have a couple of solutions to this. These solutions are most likely to be screen or packet monitoring, which only increases the possibility that a socially-prominent website becomes banned, leading to a load of irrational complaints. These complaints will also arise due to privacy issues. Since the laptops are not being provided by the school, students will argue that their privacy is being violated since the actions on their personal computer is being monitored and start disproving teachers from accessing their screens. If the computers are not going to be monitored in any way, the risks of distractions will increase drastically. While school computers may have the preferences set so that the “student” account have little privileges and freedom, personal computers don’t. Quite frankly, if we were allowed to use laptops during class, I would take full advantage of the situation and pretend to do work since it is that easy to look like you’re working on the computer.
Going back to the problem with the bag, some people travel a long distance to get to school and I know that it is very difficult and annoying to cary so much weight on their shoulders. Laptops aren’t exactly the heaviest things that a student can have, but textbooks probably are. So if this idea were to happen, I would highly suggest that text books become electronic with hard copies stored in the class room. I would also suggest, (if this idea does happen) that not only the economics class start using laptops but all classes start using laptops. That way, the preparations for school will be reduced and students will not have to adapt differently to every class.
Although I still highly doubt this idea will become reality in the near future, especially with the financial difficulties, risks of damage and complaints, and while some classes such as math class involves a lot of paper with little research or writing, I think the large majority of the high school would love it if they could use their laptops during class.
Laptops are really expensive, especially in this economy (which I’m sure you know a thing or two about Doctor). I’d love to have them in class for better organization, quicker notes, youtube an easy access to wikipedia among other uses but the only way a family like mine would be able to afford one is if the tuition were cut in half (which isn’t a bad idea!). The program would likely be beneficial, but you know what they say – don’t fix what ain’t broke.
Also those who don’t particularly like to pay attention to class would end up always watching videos or playing games on their laptops instead of using their own imaginations to entertain themselves. Its a threat to creativity (My words, not my parents’)!
I think that using computers would be a great idea, but the idea of bringing computers to and from school and also the risk of the laptops being damaged or broken is a big concern of mine.
Dear Dr Anthony,
We are always willing to support the change and development at our school. We feel that it is important for any school to try to implement new programs to improve our children’s education. This program is no exception. We can see that there will be clear benefits for students, especially since computers are such a big part in their daily lives already. With that said, I find that this program is introduced too late to us. The school year has already begun, and I have just bought a new desktop. In our family, we have 6 desktops for 5 people, and I am not particularly interested in investing a new computer just yet.
I am not too concerned about laptops being stolen. CA is a safe environment, and my daughter is responsible enough not to lose it. However, laptops have a tendency to break easily, especially when carried around in bags that students carry around today. Despite my daughter’s efforts to take care of her laptop, she is only human, and she will probably make mistakes, and that little mistake can easily end up with me buying her a new laptop. Quite often, we hear of students having trouble with their laptops.
Additionally, I personally use a laptop at work and I find that it is not the most ergonomic technology. It adds stress to my wrists, and also tires out my eyes. Students will probably have the same issues.
Most importantly, this is my daughter’s senior year, and it is the most crucial year of all. She has to balance university applications, with school work and IB work, and is already stresses. She has already spent 16 years at school, and I personally do not see a reason why it has to start now in her last school year. She has to adapt to a new system, which I do not find too necessary in this extremely busy year. I feel that it would have been more beneficial to start this program earlier, and perhaps, if this program was introduced to us at the beginning of her previous year, I would have felt differently towards this program.
I support the program and understand the benefits, but I think it should be introduced at an earlier stage.
My mother says it really depends on how successful this idea would be. However, she says she will be supportive as long as the student, me, is wiling to try and achieve such goals listed above. Moreover, she indicates that distractions could lead to ineffectiveness in using the laptops. Therefore, she suggests that maybe by eliminating access to certain sites on laptops could help us for the greater good. Thanks!
The 1:1 Laptop program sounds great and there are obvious benefits from it. Laptops will help students organize data and access data not available without. My father thinks that the possible lack of discipline that could happen during class is minimal, however he does fear that the laptop program may be used for the pure benefit of using technology, and therefore not enhance students’ learning significantly.
My parents think that using a computer instead of a textbook is a good idea to incorporate technology as part of learning. However, they are very concerned about bringing the computer to school on a daily basis. Since I live far from school, they say a computer would be too heavy to carry all the way to school. Overall they are not too supportive of the laptop program, but they are not entirely against it either.
I believe that having computers in the classroom will be a very good resource. My son has a laptop avaliable and will bring it to class if needed.
I think the 1:1 laptop program is a good idea based on the advantages mentioned above. I agree that this program will help my daughters in many ways. This will help them organize their notes properly. Access to data/information from the web is also easier and faster, though, it’s also easy to get sidetracked to other activities. However, I have a concern about laptop security, i.e. laptops may get stolen.
My parents are interested about benefits using laptops in a class. However, they are concerned about the distraction during class time from surfing on the Internet. Also, they are somewhat concerned about the cost of a laptop.
My parents think the 1:1 laptop program will be an effective learning program for students if there is some way to monitor what the students are doing during class times and restrict certain (games/chatting) sites.
The 1:1 laptop program is a great idea for working, learning and time management. My parents and I hope this will encourage us to do our best and make our work more effective.
I believe the 1:1 laptop program is great for learning, working and time management. My parents agree with me. It is a good idea and they hope this will encourage students to do their best.
My parents really like the idea of the 1:1 laptop program, however, they are concerned about the various distractions that could result from each student having their own laptop. Specifically, they are worried that the laptops will throw the students off task. Despite that, my parents think that as long as the students are responsible, there is no problem with this program.
I really like the idea of the laptop program. As long as students keep on task during class and are using their laptops properly, I think this idea is good.
My parents think that the 1:1 laptop program is a good idea, however, they also think that there needs to be a way to make sure students are not using the laptop for purposes unrelated to classroom work.
For the last three years I have been doing upwards of 90% of my work on the computer. I find files on a computer to be much easier to organize, less messy, and more efficient when compared to working with paper and pens, and I’m sure a large majority of my classmates would agree. As I mentioned in the survey in class, the only issue I personally see, at least at the student level, is discipline. Having a computer that can access social networking sights, youtube, espn, etc. can be a large distraction for students who find themselves less than capable of paying attention. My parents find that if disciplinary standards can be maintained, there is no reason why they would not support this program.
My parents and I understand the benefits of the 1:1 labtop program. However, we have worries about distractions and the actual “learning process.” Considering a class like Economics, it is important to be able to discuss and participate face-to-face rather than sit in front of computer screens. Problems like not looking at people when they are talking and wasting of class time because of “technical problems” are much more likely to occur when labtops are in the students’ possession.
Although the 1:1 laptop program may be more efficient and accessible than before, both of my parents still have some concerns regarding with computers. Since laptops are very expensive and somewhat fragile, there may be some issues in an event of when these computers are stolen or broken. I am not saying high school students cannot handle high-priced tools, but there is always an ‘if’. It’s too late when something happens.
I love the idea of laptop program since we get access to wide range of resources in classroom, but I’m afraid that there may be some problems such as losing laptop. Besides those problems, I think this program will help us in many ways.
This 1:1 laptop program seems to be a good idea, however there are some obvious concerns regarding distractions and irresponsibility. As long as access is limited to academic sites and bring about positive results in their academic results the change would be worthwhile.
My mom thinks the 1:1 laptop program is a very good idea. However, she is very concerned that sometimes students may get distracted and other cases, that it may get stolen.
Also, my laptop has issues with the battery so it always needs to be plugged into the charger. Overall, she hopes the program will be very effective to the students learning process.
My parents think though the program has potential for positive results, it ultimately distracts people, with so many ways doing so. All in all, they do not support the program.
My parents think that though it may produce positive results, it will be very difficult to actually stay on task, especially since there are so many ways to procrastinate. Students must be either very responsible and honest, or there has to be some sort of surveillance.
We are fortunate to have a teacher who has years of experience in 1:1 laptop learning. I believe our students will benefit greatly, and while this is a pilot program I predict it will be a model for other classes to follow in the future.
Having laptops in class does have a benefit such as quicker note taking. However, for me personally, I find it hard to draw diagrams or add extra words (to the side or at the margin) quickly. When using a pencil and paper, it can be easily done because I can write it wherever I want, and also, to change the font/ style to add emphasis, I do not have to do anything.
My mother also thinks students should not carry a laptop with them, but with a different reason. She feels that it is better for high school students to use paper and pencil while they are in still in high school.
My mom thinks bringing laptop could be dangerous, because students might lose it or it could be stolen. Regarding the issue of getting distracted, she says high school students should be responsible, and have self-discipline to stay on task. All in all she supports the 1:1 Laptop program.
Dear Dr. Anthony,
Our daughter just came from the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) which used the 1:1 laptop program. She found it very useful and efficient for taking notes, had easy access to class materials, and created high end projects with the use applications such as bloggers, microsoft office (powerpoint, excel). The great thing about the laptop program is that it makes organized learners. All there information can be stored in folders and subfolders and there is really no excuse for a student to misplace papers and wasting paper.
My daughter mentioned that the problems she encountered and was always worried about were the temptation to use non-academic sites when in class and the fact that hard drives can crash at any moment. Of course these concerns can be fixed by CA having a sufficient backing up system for the students and a firewall that prevents students to access these non-academic sites.
Therefore, there shouldn’t be a reason for CA not use this 1:1 laptop program! We have seen it in action and we agree with all the advantages that it provides.
A suggestion for CA for the concerns financial wise, WAB helped to pay for about 10-20% (depending on individual situations) of the laptop’s cost and provided an ordering system.
Laptop is more distracting than helpful. If use of computer is needed, the time for that should be set aside either during or after class. I am not yet clear about the benefits the 1:1 program will bring to the students.
We positively think that the 1:1 laptop environment will be an astonishing experience for our daughter. We are a little concerned of the idea that the laptops may get stolen, but having our daughter accomplishing new technology skills are a great idea.
We believe that 1:1 program has many benefits for both the students and teachers and will give access to a wealth of information and tools for the student. The students will need to make critical choices on how to use these during class time and not get distracted. Monitoring students in class is done but is not something that the teacher should be focusing on. Whether the student is using a laptop or a desktop in class they will still have to make these choices. Therefore we feel that such a program is essential in this day and age of learning and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. That being said, being informed of this program on such notice is something we are against. We, as sure as most families, have already bought a computer for our child and buying another was not something we have budgeted for. Will our son’s future university support Mac or will he have to use Windows? To buy a new laptop to find that it won’t be supported in one year’s time isn’t something we are willing to do. If the school wants to implement a 1:1 program it needs to offer rental laptops for those whose financial situation is less than desirable in this economic downturn or who will only be in the school for one or two more years. The laptops need to be present day technology and not 4 or 5 years old in order not to put students at a disadvantage.
My mom thinks the 1:1 computer program will be a good idea however she believes that the students will need to be very responsible. She says that there is a possibility that students will get distracted and thus not much will not be accomplished. She is further dubious about this program and feels that she will need more information about this program in order to make a conclusion. She is against buying a new laptop and she wonders how the students’ work will be affected.
I think this keeps students attuned to the computer era, where interactive quick hands-on learning is very common. Interface with the computer while learning with the teacher and classmates, enables them to process their thoughts quickly while in the class and check on-the-spot for broader perspective outside of the class via web or chat. The downside may be that students could abuse computer use, by multi-tasking on distractions unrelated to the subject. Not sure how much the teacher could monitor each and every student, while at the same time teaching. Separately, if parents have to shell out money for the computer, it may be challenging for those with 2 or more children. Perhaps there should be a financing scheme, as relevant.
I think the 1:1 program is a good idea, however I am concerned that students will get distracted by the internet and that the laptops might be stolen.
Though at first glance, the constant interaction with computers among students seem more like an gateway to distractions but it would definitely be more efficient if students have access to so many resources. It may also help students with their organization of their time and their assignments.
My mom thinks that it will help in all of the ways suggested above. However, she also thinks that problems will arise with it. For instance, since the computer will be connected to the internet, unless there is constant surveillance there will arise issues such as gaming and chatting. If there is a way however to work around this, she thinks that it will be a good plan.
Dear Dr. Anthony,
I’m thrilled to have you as my son’s economics teacher this year. This 1:1 laptop program sounds like a great program. However, my son’s computer has a short battery life making it very inconvenient. I will talk to Ms. Verba to see if we can we work something out.
Yoshiko Brown
CA Elementary School Counselor
i like the idea that we can constantly investigate and gather information during classes. I think it is going to be helpful in learning Economics, since it requires a lot of background knowledge and examples in real life.
Bringing a computer to school is something I would advice against, my son tends to procrastinate a lot on his computer, mostly because distraction is only just a click away from his work. I strongly encourage the use of technology in the class room, and would suggest a way to monitor what the kids are doing on their laptops to make sure they are on task.
Laptops are distracting