We're lucky that, at our school, we have one to one laptops. Each and every student has his or her own laptop for the year, given to them by the school. And not any old laptop - MacBooks. Sometimes I just look out across my classroom and think about how lucky these students are to be given such a gift. When I was in high school, I did research from these little things called "books." Now, the world is at our fingertips. It can be overwhelming sometimes to think about how much we have at our disposal at any given moment of the day.
Today, I passed my laptops out to my advisees - freshmen - "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," excited to be getting "their" laptops. As I review the school's Laptop Policy, the complaints started coming - their screen's dirty, their cord has a mark on it, carrying it in the case is such a pain... That's when I think, "What have we done to these kids??" Unfortunately, many of the students do not realize how special they are to have been given these tools. In fact, they're not even looked at by the students as a tool for learning - many of them only use their laptops to store their music, watch YouTube, and surf Facebook.
My freshmen came into class today after getting their laptops - and wouldn't you know it, all the screens were open and they were furiously trying to figure out how to get around the filter and get on Facebook. Even after I asked them to shut their screens, they lingered on the Internet.
All of a sudden, I remembered that much of the semester with my students was about to become about shutting the laptops, or staying on task when researching or completing some other Internet-based school work. The laptops create new issues for teachers and students - students would rather be on Facebook than looking up the etymology of a vocabulary word - how do we monitor that? How do we teach our students how to use the laptop as a tool for learning, not just as a way to entertain themselves? How do we help them to see how lucky they are? Ah, the beginning of the school year...
I visited a high school last spring that participated in the one to one laptop initiative. The situation was just as you describe: students on facebook, youtube, etc. It was a headache for the teachers. I left the day feeling lucky that the school where I work does not participate in the laptop initiative. How messed up is that?
ReplyDeleteMy high school has had one-to-one laptops for several years now. We have shared the same concerns and issues that you both have brought up.
ReplyDeleteAs I was going through some of the readings for this class I was thinking more and more about how I could help my students use this media more productively without taking time from the curriculum. I am hoping that this class will help me with that.
I use my laptop for facebook and youtube, but students need to learn that there is a time and place for those. That is not easy for adults sometimes too. Our students and the staff both have the same internet filters. The filter is way too sensitive for staff use!!
There is plenty of research to indicate a widespread perception that learning activities are undifferentiated, that is, that in class discussion and online discussion are the same and all we need is the tool that allows it...or research in an encyclopedia and research on the Internet likewise require the same skills and only the medium differs. One consequence of this, I think, is that we do not allow teachers sufficient time to study the different demands of the new media, nor do we allow them sufficient time to prepare instructional programs that utilize these new media with students. Those educators who take the time and initiative to explore new technologies on their own not only enable themselves but can also help to articulate how time to learn new media is needed to engage students effectively with a program like one-to-one laptops.
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