Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

The OLPC project is officially underway as students in Nigeria received the first shipment of laptops. CNet has some nice photos of the launch.

I spent the afternoon with three teachers all involved in one to one computing classrooms; the two teachers from the Palm handheld project and a veteran teacher in a tablet PC classroom.

We spent part of the afternoon in the tablet classroom observing the setup and watching the students work. This isn’t about student excitement over a new tool. It’s gone way beyond that. Technology in these classrooms is virtually seamless. Yet motivation and engagement still exists. The classroom is not quiet as students talk about their work, help each other and share their learning in large groups. (This classroom has a wireless projector which allows any student to project their screen to the projector)
We talked about pedagogy, engagement, the importance of essential questions and lamented on how students leaving these classrooms will feel when they no longer have access all day long. All three agree, kids need this. How will they go back? What if you were told that next year, you’ll only have access to a computer twice a week for 45 minutes?

Tom Hoffman writes about the possibility of a low-cost laptop on the horizon. The Palms have provided a low-cost option as well. My concerns about lack of internet access still exists but they have begun to provide a learning environment that embraces much of what is right about digital learning. The point is we have to continue to find ways to get this in students hands. I’m reminded of the presentation from the K-12 Online Conference dealing with a 2-1 environment. I think of Pam Shoemaker’s involvement with having parents purchase the laptops. In any case, we have teachers and administrators commitmed to the idea of getting computers in students’ hands. With teachers this passionate about students and access, it’s not likely these types of efforts would fail. The failings of other initiatives come from mass roll outs when many teachers aren’t ready or able to make the adjustments in pedagogy. But when teachers are ready and want their students to have access, I say to administrators and central office decision makers, “just do it“. Find a way to get it done.

It’s noteworthy that Ev, who is a teacher of 30 years is, retiring this year. She is doing so somewhat reluctantly because she is feeling like she is just on the verge of exploring a new way of teaching and learning for her students. She is a true learner.

As the shift towards one to one computing continues, I’m advocating we move to more laptops for teachers and students. I’m in a bit of a debate with our IT department as to what the minimum requirements should be for a laptop. Ads for laptops under $700 abound. He claims this would not work well in our environment.
Here’s some of his thoughts on our discussion.

Acquisition costs for a notebook computer is typically 15% - 25% higher than that of a desktop computer. That would mean a substantial increase in IT budget per year… something I doubt the Board would endorse given the current financial situation within the division.

• Notebooks are typically MUCH slower than a desktop computer.
• Notebooks are MUCH less reliable than desktops. Downtime would increase significantly.
• Notebooks have VERY limited expansion capabilities and those items are more expensive (memory, hard drives, etc).
• Notebooks do not last as long as desktops. Our current replacement policy of 4 years would most likely have to be reduced to 3 years.
• Some programs WILL NOT RUN (or at least run so poorly on a notebook that they are unusable) AutoCAD, etc.
  

Maintaining security and standard configurations on notebooks that go off-site would substantially increase IT support costs

How would you see these notebooks being connected to our networks… wired… wireless? If it is wireless millions of $$$ would need to be invested in wireless infrastructure to support this model…

What about future directions within technology? We are in a time where this is a huge concern for the entire industry. In fact, Microsoft just released Vista today… the next version of their desktop operating system. Likely a third of the computers in our division won’t even run it right now while another third can run it but not the video-editing and multi-media (i.e. the “cool”, engaging parts) features. That leaves one third of the computers that can take advantage of new IT based opportunities and tools. The $600 - $1,000 notebooks would fall into one of these two-thirds… either they couldn’t run Vista of they would run it V E R Y S L O W L Y and/or some features would not be accessible.Also, the Thinkpad system that you spec’d out would struggle running Windows XP and our Office products… it would choke on Vista. I checked the Lenovo (the new name for IBM notebooks and PC’s) web site out and couldn’t find this configuration anywhere… where did you find this? The lowest priced Thinkpad T60 ( the T40 is no longer available) was $1,299 Canadian and only came with a one year warranty and no accidental damage coverage… a huge issue with notebooks.

I understand his concerns about performance and support. Many of the blogs I read do not speak highly of their IT department. This is not the case for me. I work closely with them and while we may not agree on all things, we’re all focused on our desire to provide the best experience and opportunities for all learners. The debate we’re having is whether we can make the shift from the standard desktop to laptop without increasing costs dramatically.

I’m wondering if those with experience in this can respond.

[tags]laptops,one to one,1to1,notebooks,change,shift[/tags]

I’m in Santa Clara (the heart of Silicon Valley) at the Palm Educator’s Training Coordinator’s certification. This is largely connected to our current Palm(R) Handheld project. The training emphasizes early on that the Palm products are not PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants) but handheld computers. The distinction is significant in that the term PDA or PalmPilot usually diminishes the power of the handheld to an organizer. Clearly there’s more to it than that. The Palm company is committed to being the word’s leader in mobile computing. Obviously after the recent unveiling of the iphone, they won’t be alone but certainly the push to mobile computing is huge.

In a school division facing many budget cuts and change, the advent of one to one computing will be a tough sell. Add to that, mobile computing now can include cellular phones. That’s going to be another challenge. Wake Forest is currently using smartphones and is discovering some great benefits. This recent posting by Leonard Low, outlines why mobile computing matters.

As I continue to manage the current Palm project and begin to launch another laptop based project, the power of mobility will be an interesting and important distinction.

One a side note, I didn’t bring my (our) cellphone with me and when I tried to find a payphone in Mountain View, I was told there were no pay phones..everyone has a cell. I’ll know for next time.

I anticipate this will become more and more of an issue and am wondering if others have already had to deal with this.

Students and teachers who bring their own laptops or wireless devices will soon be requesting internet and network access at schools. Questions that come to mind are:

• What security issues are there?
• Can they potentially impact the network?
• Who is responsible for that?
• Is this any different from school districts that have issued laptops to teachers/students?
• Or are they configured in such a way as to reduce or limit their potential security issues?
• Can they just be given internet access without accessing the network?
  
• What I.T. support is necessary for this to occur?

I’m sure there are other issues I’ve not considered but since I’ve already been asked about this, I’m hoping some of you have some thoughts.

Image Citation:
“Wall of Laptops.” Kartooner’s Photostream. 11 March 2006. 29 Sep 2006 .

Okay so I’m working hard at trying to get closer to one to one computing. I’d also like to see teachers making better use of the desktops in their classrooms. So when I read this, I’m a little taken back.

We are abandoning the mobile laptop lab/cart paradigm and going back to a regular wired lab. Some of the reasons are:

1. Slow connectivity speed.
2. Class time is wasted handing out computers and collecting.
3. Laptops are more difficult and time consuming to image (you have to set the lab up in order to re-image).
4. They are more expensive for the same quality machine.
5. Greater risk for theft.
6. Poor utilization. Typically a laptop lab will be checked out to only a single teacher for a day, while a separate wired lab is used by multiple teacher throughout the day.

Dr. James Beal Director of Technology Somonauk Community Unit School District #432 Somonauk, IL 60552

I can’t speak to this from experience so those of you with some background (Wes, Cheryl,Will, Dan) maybe you could respond. This seems like a step backwards possibly as a result of some poor planning and support. But I really don’t know. I realize this may not be a true one to one environment but it seems to be closer to a reality of one computer for every child.

If we continue to cave to the challenges of technology, where will we be in 5 years when kids start bringing their own computers?

The $100 laptop has certainly brought much discussion among educators. It seems it has also brought discussion among manufacturers.

Read the story. via Rick Schwier

Mexico has already signed up for 300,000. Why is it that Mexico, China, India, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeria and Argentina have all made committments to get the technology in the hands of children.

Maybe one day our country will be wealthy enough to afford this for our kids.