And ‘WHO’ said 1:1 laptops in education can’t work???
By tnturner on May 19, 2007 in Classroom 2.0, Technology Integration
With the recent spat of the school district up by Syracuse, New York taking out laptops because they saw no negligible increase in student performance. I wonder what the students in this Uruguayan town will think? I’m pretty sure they also don’t have to cut through all the red tape and policies that we do here in the United States to connect with other students from around the world.
Kudos to the One Laptop Per Child Initiative for another job well done!
Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…Tom.
2 Comment(s)
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. It is indeed wonderful that disadvantaged learners have access to technology. One will have to look six months to a year down the line to determine if their use of the computers have moved beyond the initial interest in Tetris. The success of the project is tightly bound to the degree to which the educators will be trained in the use of (for them) the new teaching and learning tool.
To me the most positive thing in the article is the fact that the laptops come preloaded with children’s book. Books are often not existing in poor communities, so the presence of literature on the laptops may at least encourage reading.
OK…I will admit I might have been hasty in my proclamations. I will tether them back a bit. However, I do believe that the impetus is there for the 1LPC to succeed in this country as it has in other areas as well. It’s truly a shame that here in the US most districts don’t see it that way, just as a pitfall and a safety hazard.