Joanne Prettyman

SLM 521

Article Critique #1

"Laptop Learning," by Glenn Cook, July 2002 ASBJ, V. 189, No. 7,
http://www.asbj.com/2002/07/0702coverstory.html

The article “Laptop Learning,” in American School Board Journal, focuses on several school districts integrating a computer laptop “project” in elementary, middle, and high schools in Virginia, Maine, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. In each case a large computer firm – Dell, Apple, etc. – offered a lease program to several school districts in excess of $18.6 million dollars. The gist of the article is: will performance of students rise as a result of each student being equipped with a laptop (at a $50.00 damaged control deposit) and reduced cost ($7.95 from $9.99) internet hook-up? Now, of course it isn’t as simple as that – but that is the gist. The districts’ hopes are that different lessons, different levels of interaction, and different delivery systems will enable students to achieve – and raise test and aptitude scores at the same time.

I saw definite pros and cons in this article – but on the whole – I agreed with it! Something I didn’t see myself doing at the beginning of the article! The pros: each student will be connected – connected to the internet and connected to the classroom; each student will, with training, become computer savvy, each student will become, hopefully, a self-motivated learner – searching the web for periodicals and further research; and each student is learning that they can truly become life-long learners. The cons: of course, cost – low income families, on reduced lunches, may not be able to justify a $50.00 yearly deposit and $7.95 reduced internet cost – and are the districts really ready for the fight that will ensue between affluent and poor families as to fairness; security – how do you keep 7^th grade boys from looking for “boobs” on the internet!; and training – it cannot be haphazard, it must be well-planned, well-structured, and parents, students, and teachers must be on the same training page. All in all, I liked the idea, albeit a pie-in-the-sky idea, of every student being equipped with a laptop. If nothing, it will solve the I-cannot-read-this-kid’s-chicken-scratch-anymore problem and the 21^st century’s “the dog ate my homework” excuse of “my printer didn’t work last night!”