Two birds, one stone

This week, the suggested article by Fred Bartels, "Reflections on the RCDS Laptop Program After One Year", is in actuality an evaluation of an early 1:1 computing program. Written in November of 2000, the report still has a lot to say about not just how to craft a 1:1 computing program, but dares to ask the question: should we have 1:1 computing at all? Chock full of technical information, Bartels' report could be read like a users manual, though many of the hardware and software details have changed considerably over the past 7 years. The analogy he uses is an automotive one, and if you read nothing else, read the middle paragraph on page 15 where he compares a laptop program to a transportation system. I am particularly fond of this analogy, having been known to say that creating, maintaining and implementing technology in our school is similar to changing a tire at 60 miles an hour.

Bartels also uses the concept of a "virtual playground" to explain what computers bring to the educational experience, thus supporting the investment of time, money and personnel. The key is acknowledging that laptops give students freedom to work at their pace, on topics of interest, in ways that work for them. The challenge is not to get the laptops, it is to change our pedagogical model so we aren't just using this new technology to do what we already do, just faster (or maybe with a splash of color . . .).

I found it interesting that nowhere in this document is the library mentioned! At the Rye Country Day School, student training on the laptops is done by each department (English-word processint, Math-spreadsheets, Science-graphing, foreign Language-databases, Humanities-web page creation, Art-painting and drawing). No library. And yet, he makes the case for critical thinking and inquiry, just not in the name of research.

Pre-I Pod, Bartels anticipates the new technology that has come into play since his report hit the presses, or the web. He predicts small, hand held devices with screens capable of reading books and producing graphics.

I am still thinking about a question he posed, and did not answer: "What is interesting about the lack of clearly measurable educational benefits to laptop use is the almost equal lack of "hard" evidence that any computer use in schools is beneficial. In fact, there is considerable controversy about whether computer use in the larger society has created measurable increases in productivity". (p. 10)

Are we doing "more with more", or just less?