1 to 1 - A Great Idea?

I just finished reading Sarah Levendusky's blog on 1 to 1 Computing. 1 to 1 computing is, so it seems, all the rage right now, at least in educational circles. I have to admit that I find myself a little skeptical about things that have the appearance of a fad. As a pastor and an educator, I’ve seen more “great ideas” come and go than I care to mention. Unfortunately, I’ve bought into one too many of them, and now I’ve become something of a skeptic.

I’d never heard the term before I started back to school almost 2 years ago. I’ve heard the term a lot since then, but it wasn’t until this semester that I found out what it meant. That makes me a late comer to this discussion, and, as you may have guessed, my reaction has been somewhat mixed.

As I set out to do a little research on 1 to 1 computing, I looked for both the positive and the negative. I found a lot of positive, but quite a bit of negative too. I’ll not take the time to review all that I found, but three writers stood out to me.

David Cole a professor at Georgetown University shared why he tells his students to “unplug” in a recent issue of Scholastic Administrator. In his opinion, laptops distract as much as they enable. Most students “multitask” while in class and don’t fully engage in the discussions that are going on around them. Using a computer to take notes, allows the student to capture the lecture without really thinking about it. Professor Cole says that, “attention diverted is attention diverted.”

Ryan Bretag, a high school administrator responded to Professor Cole by saying that he agreed with him so long as the teacher hasn’t “gone through the pedagogical shifts needed to use such a tool successfully. It is only when instructors shift their practices that technology possibly begins to play an important role in the classroom.” (The Four Eyed Technologist) Simply trying to integrate laptops into a traditional classroom setting will only create problems.

Finally, Jim Hirsch (the director of technology for Plano ISD in Texas) suggested that educators should be willing to look beyond laptops, to incorporating all types of technology. (Moving at the Speed of Creativity) As technology is rapidly progressing, there are a growing number of devices, that could serve the goals of 1 to 1. As one who relies quite heavily on his Pocket PC, I would agree with this.

I’ve listened to the arguments for 1 to 1 and I recognize that there are tremendous advantages that can be gained, but I also see some dangers. While my kids have always had access to computers, and our household has been connected in one way or another since the late ‘80’s, I’m still not ready to give them complete and unsupervised access to “their own computer.” Maybe I’m just too old fashioned.