Giving laptop computers to students is all the rage. Minneapolis gave laptops to nearly 1000 high school students to use for all four years of high school. Maine gave its seventh- and eighth-graders laptops last year, thanks to a $37.2 million initiative. Similar programs are in place in California and Virginia. But has the increased technology had a positive effect on learning?
...as Stillwater [in Minnesota] prepares to pass out the Macintosh iBooks next fall, some are criticizing administrators for investing in something that hasn't been shown to improve test scores...
Maine started giving laptops to its seventh- and eighth-graders last school year...The state has about 34,000 students and 3,000 teachers at its 241 junior highs.
The schools are happy with the program so far, said Tony Sprague, program coordinator for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. He reports an increase in student engagement, determined by higher attendance rates and fewer disciplinary problems.
Maine teachers report improved writing skills, partly because students are more willing to labor over drafts using a computer keyboard than with old-fashioned pen and paper, Sprague said...
In an earlier effort, Minneapolis gave computers to 980 members of the class of 2002 at Washburn and North high schools. The students had the laptops from ninth grade until they graduated as part of a legislative study to see if the machines would help boost graduation rates.
They did, said Coleen Kosloski, the district's media and technology services director...
But the Minneapolis students using laptops did not record higher test scores than those of their peers in the district.
Ninety-two percent of continuously enrolled students with laptops passed the Minnesota Basic Standards reading test in October 2001. By comparison, 91 percent of similarly enrolled students in other schools passed the test. The passing rate for the math section was 85 percent for the laptop-toting students, and 87 percent for students at other schools. Students passed the writing test at the rate of 90 percent and 87 percent, respectively.
I'm not sure if changes in test scores should be the be-all, end-all decision here. For starters, the passing rates here were relatively high to begin with; they can only improve so much. I believe surfing the Internet can help foster reserach skills and improve communications abilities. It certainly can't hurt their future job prospects for kids to be more involved with computers. And the kids seem enthusiastic about the prospect.
Of course, the kids just can't be handed the computers and be told, "Go to it." A full-time tech support staff is required:
The Minneapolis schools found they needed a full-time staff person to coordinate the program, along with extra technical support. FertileBeltrami has a full-time technician who is essential, Halvorson said. Community support also is crucial. And teachers need training so they know how to integrate the computers into their curriculum.
"We made sure the teachers got their computers — and got the training — well before the students received their machines," Sprague said of Maine. "You can't simply hand off the laptops and say, 'See you in four years and tell us how it went.' "
Halvorson said schools must also have a long-term plan for financing the programs. Fertile-Beltrami sets aside $25,000 for hardware and $15,000 for software each year to keep its inventory as updated as possible...
Integrating Technology with Learning: Teaching Kids to Deal with Tech Support Over the Phone As Soon As Possible. A very useful skill in life.
Posted by kswygert at December 16, 2003 10:23 AM