Summary and Reaction:
In this article, Sarah Heller McFarlane reflects on her experience with personal laptops in the classroom. McFarlane's district supplied each secondary student with a personal computer for use in school and at home. After experiencing student laptops for one year, McFarlane has mixed feelings on the effectiveness of this particular technology in the classroom.
On one hand, the personal laptops provided an opportunity to close an accessibility and achievement gap between students based on socioeconomic status. Students without the economic resources to have their own personal computers were given the chance to improve their technology skills. Additionally, the presence of computers for all students helped remove the social stigma experienced by students unable to afford their own technology.
On the other hand, McFarlane expressed many concerns and frustrations with the implementation of student laptops. For example, McFarlane expressed frustration with the time consuming nature of training teachers to utilize the new technology. Additionally, McFarlane felt that she was forced to spend a large amount of her instructional time "policing" students who were using the laptops for non-educational purposes during class. Finally, over the course of the year, McFarlane observed a decline in social interactions between her students.
Like most thing in life, there seems to be advantages and disadvantaged to providing students with individual laptops . . .
Do schools have a responsibility to reduce the gap in student access to technology?
Yes. Our society is becoming increasingly technology-dependent. As educators, it is our responsibility to prepare our students to survive and, ideally, thrive in the "real world." Student who do not have access to technology and do not develop the related skills will be at a disadvantage when pursuing higher education, employment, etc. While every student may not need their own personal laptop, the school environment should allow for exposure to and experience with various forms of technology.
Are laptops a valuable use of financial resources?
After reading about McFarlane's largely negative experience with personal laptops in the classroom, I am less inclined to pursue that technological route. Instead, I would rather disperse the funds across a range of technology, filling the room with resources like GPS, graphing calculators, simulation software, video and audio recording devices, etc. By having a broad range of technological devices, students get a more diverse educational experience and must learn to work cooperatively to share these resources.
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