Comments on: One-to-One Laptops… What Makes it Work?

By: Our Plan « Musings from the Academy

Our Plan « Musings from the Academy — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:36:00 +0000

[...] February 26, 2008 — musingsfromtheacademy Tomorrow is the district’s third laptop revisioning meeting, and two of the schools were asked to do a short presentation (5-10 mins) on our plans. My school [...]

By: roadrunner

roadrunner — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:31:02 +0000

I have to agree with Sam in his response to Gary. Yes we need to build capacity in our teachers, but we should not expect them to magically become experts. This is not just about learning the technology, there is a need for a shift in practice. So what is important is job-embedded professional development that provides modelling and support in their classrooms together with the technical support to make sure the technology works. Over time, teachers will develop into confident technology users with the right supports in place. Cindy Seibel

By: Left Lane Ends » Blog Archive » Which One Do You Wanna Do?

Left Lane Ends » Blog Archive » Which One Do You Wanna Do? — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:44:36 +0000

[...] Angela Stevens has written about our current revisioning of our one to one laptop program in Irving, leading to some nice discussion about what the Academy of Irving ISD will do to take the next steps with community funded bond monies. Additionally, each High School campus has been asked to think about how they can revision their programs to make what we do with students more powerful and more effective. [...]

By: Sam Farsaii

Sam Farsaii — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Gary,
Dont’ knock it unless you have the big picture. Even though I know your intimate familiarity with Papert and your cross continent experiences with him I am still puzzled. I believe his reference of pencil in “Mindstorms” refers to a device for every student. The paraphrase of “pencil specialist” is a bit of a stretch. The reason we do not need “pencil specialists” is because teachers have mastered the art of manipulating the pencil from Kindergarten. They where taught with it, learned with it, and feel comfortable with its execution, limitations and know how to best manipulate it as a tool. Some teachers come well prepared and ready with technology integration, while others are still considering computers the “new technology” and are still not ready to transform their classroom. Desktop computers have been around now for at least the past 30 years; that is not “new technology”. So when are teachers going to naturally transform their instruction? Yes they do need hand holding, encouragement, support, … until the school grows it’s circle of influence to reach the tipping point. Once there, then every teacher is an Instructional Technology Specialist. Also keep in mind an instructional Technology Specialist at a 1:1 environment does much more than coach teachers. There are hidden day-to-day system managements and support issues from gradebook, to parent notification system, content management system, internet access, system compatibility, data acquisition system, … and the list goes on that need to be managed on daily basis so teachers can focus on instruction. Based on my experience I can assure you that Irving ISD would not be as far as it is today. We can plan things centrally, but someone at the campus level needs to provide the support to insure it gets done. What you say sounds good in theory, but I am speaking from daily practice

By: Gary S Stager

Gary S Stager — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:06:07 +0000

I fear for a program that in 2008 includes, not one, but plural “Instructional Technology Specialists.”

This speaks volumes for the lack of ownership and transparent use of the computers throughout the school. The more specialists appointed, the more likely teachers are to be dependent on those specialists and demonstrate a lack of autonomy, personal growth or professional leadership.

To paraphrase Seymour Papert, how many pencil specialists does your school employ?

By: musingsfromtheacademy

musingsfromtheacademy — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:49:56 +0000

First of all, I would like to thank you all for participating in this discussion… you guys rock!

Secondly, in my opinion, your thoughts and comments are right on target, but I have a few other questions to pose…

** Since teacher, student, administrative buy-in seems to be a crucial component in a one-to-one laptop program, how do you get it? How do you get your staff and students to get on board and see the importance of teaching 21st century skills?

** How important is professional development in a one-to-one program and what “kind” of professional development is needed?

** How do you perpetuate and improve upon a one-to-one laptop program once it is in place? How do you sustain it?

I would love some more comments and discussion! Thanks again for your support.

By: Gloria Willingham

Gloria Willingham — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:38:22 +0000

What a timely discussion – I was just reading an article in Classroom Connect on “One-to-One teaching with Technology” by Tony Brewer. He mentioned some of the same things that I was reading in comments above. One quote that I found very interesting – “A mainstay philosophy of every successful one-to-one teaching and learning initiative is that we are preparing students for their future, not our past.” I think if we keep this in mind it will help to make the work and effort required to make one-to-one teaching with laptops successful, and a successful program should be mutually beneficial to administrators, teachers, students, and parents.

By: John Brown

John Brown — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:09:51 +0000

This group of comments is the most encouraging thing that I have read from and about educators since I retired four years ago! The comments are very insightful, but they also say great things about the staff at The Academy.

Congratulations on effectively carrying the torch forward!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:39:42 +0000

I don’t have much to add to what’s already been said, but I’ll throw my two cents in anyway.

First of all, while I certainly agree that teacher buy-in is crucial, I am glad that Katie referenced administrator buy-in. Successful implementation starts at the top. When you have administrators who require teachers to offer an alternative, technology-free lesson, the one-to-one initiative loses credibility.

Second, I’d like to toss out the idea of flexibility. Cathleen touched on it when she talked about “playing” on the laptop. One-to-one implementation cannot be fully successful in a classroom where the teacher needs to control everything the students do. The other day, my geography students and I were discussing the insurgency in Northern Uganda when one of them informed me that a very popular band has written a song about the topic. We found the music video on YouTube and – presto! – an event taking place thousands of miles away was suddenly relevant and engaging to my students. The class would never have made that connection if I’d written off the student’s comment just because it involved YouTube.

Along that same vein, successful one-to-one teachers have to be comfortable with the fact that sometimes the students will know more about something than they do. But when a student does something with technology that I don’t know how to do, I just ask them how to do it. I’ve never had a student who wasn’t pleased to teach their teacher something new.

Finally, administrator flexibility is also important. At our school, we’re blessed to have administrators who trust us to be the professionals that we are. There are no mandates about how we use technology – no, “everyone must write a blog,” no, “you must use technology every day.” Yes, there is an expectation, but no one is standing over our shoulders forcing us to do it the way they think it should be done. Our administrators allow us to run our classrooms in the way that we feel is best for our students, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that. I think that attitude filters down, too, and ultimately results in higher morale overall – and better student behavior.

By: Katie Creeger

Katie Creeger — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:00:13 +0000

Yup. I do agree with these statements. I use technology to accent my lessons. Sometimes it is the dominant component but more often than not, it is a tool that can be used to differentiate lessons for my students. Right now my students are using the computer to access current events. It is useful for all subject areas and all areas. Yes, you have to be creative with your lesson planning and you don’t have to use it every day- or even every other day. When the students realize that there will be a variety of instruction, they are a little more excited about coming to class. Kids get bored with technology if it is the only thing that is used.
Teacher and administration buy-in is extremely important. If the teachers and administrators don’t buy into this program and the training that is involved, it won’t work. There is always a learning curve too. It takes awhile for a school to reach our level of technology use.
If there is training available continuously, the teachers will feel more comfortable trying new things.