1 to 1 Schools

EduCon Day 1

Today I had the opportunity to tour the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia.  Actually, I enjoyed the tour so much I toured the school a second time.  Throughout the tours, I was able to speak with students and teachers from SLA along with other educators.  My thoughts have really been all over the board since the visit, and I must first say how amazed I was with the school.  SLA was a different type of school.  Here are some of the biggest things I observed that I would consider different from most schools.

• Students took complete ownership in the school.  When we asked them questions, they would answer with the word "we" quite frequently.  We talked with one student about the admissions process and he shared how "we are trying to make that process better."
• The school had a vision, which they called their core values, that were evident everywhere in the school.  Those core values were inquiry, respect, collaboration, presentation, and reflection.  The work that students did in their classes, student work in the hallways, and the entire atmosphere of the building reflected those values.  One teacher said the two things that made SLA better than other schools that he had worked in were the commonality of vision and language.
• Teachers were not the owners of all of the knowledge in the classroom.  In many of the classrooms that we walked into, I didn't immediately know where the teacher was (No, this isn't because they were running off worksheet copies in the office).  Instead, students and teachers were working side by side.  When asked about their teachers, students described them as a sort of friend (this relationship may lead to an entirely different conversation).  They said that they were very comfortable talking with them. 
• As a former principal, I of course had to ask about discipline.  My tour guide explained that there really weren't any major discipline problems in the school.  If a discipline problem did occur, the student would meet with the principal, guidance counselor, teacher, and parent, to decide how to best deal with the situation.  He said that they didn't really have lots of strict procedures or policies to deal with discipline.  They did have three rules that I saw posted everywhere.  Those rules are listed below, and were similar to the schools vision in that they seemed to be engrained in the school.  It was extremely apparent that respect was a key component to the school.
• • Respect yourself
  • Respect the community
  • Respect SLA as a place of learning
• Although technology was everywhere in the building, it wasn't the focus of instruction.  The core values (inquiry, respect, collaboration, presentation, and reflection) were the focus of instruction.  When technology was used, it was to enhance their core values.  This is a message that I frequently try to deliver to 1:1 schools, but observing SLA gave a more powerful example of this than my words ever could.  If I was asked what was the most drastic difference between SLA and more traditional schools, I would describe their focus on core values and not technology.  The teaching and learning were extremely focused on those values.

On the back of my business cards, it reads, "I met with Nick and......... I'm energized."  I have to say that today I visited SLA, and I'm energized!  This school renews my faith that schools can excel and meet the needs of our learners.

Learning Conference

After leaving frigid Des Moines, Iowa today at 6:00, I have just arrived in balmy Philadelphia (balmy for an Iowa guy at least)!  I am extremely excited to attend the EduCon 2.2 conference for the next three days.  The description below is from the educon2.2 wiki. 

What is EduCon2.0?

EduCon 2.0 is both a conversation and a conference.

And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is a School 2.0 conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas -- from the very practical to the big dreams.

Hopefully this description is an indicator of the type of conference EduCon will be.  I frequently blog and speak with others about how technology can enhance learning, but I try to stress that technology is never the goal.  The goal should always be enhanced student learning!

I will be sharing much of my learning from the conference on this blog.

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SCOTT McLEOD
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Blog @ www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org
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If we didn’t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?

The title of this post comes from an article written by Thomas G. Carroll nearly ten years ago!  His article has really got me thinking.  How would your students respond to the title of this post?  How about teachers?  Parents?

Educational leaders who are attempting to make change in their organization may want to use this question to guide discussions with various stakeholder groups.  I would love to see these groups create plans for what model schools of today would look like .  Once groups create these schools, the next couple of questions may be just as thought provoking.

Why haven't we changed to make our schools fit the design for schools that we have created?

How can we make our schools look more like the schools we created?

Although Carroll's article is nearly ten years old, he makes some strong points about technology.  Here are some other quotes from the article that are great conversation starters.

About collaboration....

"The new and more powerful opportunity available to educators today is to use these technologies to help individuals collaboratively construct networked learning communities that will accelerate and help individuals collaboratively construct networked learning communities that will accelerate and augment the community's learning, as well as each individual's learning."

About the future of schools...

"But most schools and classrooms will no longer be the central learning hubs they are today.   Today’s model of schooling is to bring the learner to the knowledge—tomorrow we will bring the knowledge to the learners.   We must recognize that schools and classrooms are becoming nodes in networked learning communities.   We must begin to think about how to organize learning in networked communities and not limit learning within the boundaries of classrooms and school buildings—which would be to limit our thinking to what has been possible in the past in a single school or node.  "


"Our schools may become marginalized as learning places if they continue to focus only on knowledge transmission, while our workplaces, communities, and homes begin to take full advantage of modern communications and information technologies for knowledge adaptation and generation."

About the changing roles of students and teachers...

"We should stop calling these individuals “teachers” and “students” and start calling them “learners” instead.   More than just a change of names, it is a change to a fundamentally different role.   It is very different to be a “learner” than to be a “student” or a “teacher.”"

The Power of Collaboration

This week CASTLE launched the Iowa 1:1 Network.  CASTLE's guidelines for the blog are described as follows:

"You can post anything that you think would be helpful to the community. Random thoughts, questions for the community, planning documents, funding models, lesson plans, photos, videos, links to outside resources, podcasts, research reports, exciting things happening in your classrooms, nifty technologies, upcoming events - literally anything that you think would be of interest is welcome. Contributors can be administrators, teachers, other educators, parents, students, etc."

Although I realize that many of you may not be from Iowa, CASTLE's new blog can serve as a model of collaboration for other states and regions.  By creating a forum where anyone with a shared interest can collaborate with ease, CASTLE will help strengthen the one to one network of schools in Iowa.  Like most states, Iowa has very few one to one schools, and it may be easy for those schools to feel isolated and not maximize the potential of one to one.  Hopefully this blog will serve as a tool for educators to share resources and answer questions so that all schools benefit.  

Teaching should be ENHANCED with technology!

After I posted yesterday, I was able to continue the conversation about how technology can enhance learning and teaching.  My colleague Jamie Fath and I actually discussed this topic for much of our long ride home from Cedar Falls.  One model that Jamie brought up was also echoed by educator Matt Townsley in his response to the post. 

Both individuals recommended that I take a look at the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model.

This model does an excellent job of illustrating what needs to happen in order for enhanced learning to take place.  Many teachers seem to get caught up in one or two aspects of this model, but fail to connect all three. 

One article that Matt suggested does a nice job explaining TPACK.  Another resource that you may also want to take a look at is the  TPACK website.   

Do we know what good teaching looks like?

Today I was in a workshop in Cedar Falls, Iowa with approximately 50 administrators.  Much of our conversation centered around teaching, and how technology could enhance learning.  Throughout the day we watched videos of three different classrooms, and discussed how the use of technology had impacted learning in each of them.  One guide we used to evaluate the lessons was a form adapted from Technology and Learning Magazine.  This guide is an excellent way to discuss and evaluate lessons, and it can serve as a way to truly determine if technology is actually enhancing learning in the classroom.  Here are the eight questions posed on the guide.

• Does technology advance student learning?
• Are students working toward a lesson-relevant goal?
• Does the technology give students a deeper understanding of the content?
• Are students using technology to solve a problem?
• Are all students benefiting from the incorporation of technology?
• Is learning improved by the use of technology in the lesson?
• Are students motivated by the technology, does this increase their learning?
• Can teachers easily explain the benefit the technology brings to the lesson?

All three videos had some form of technology use, but two of the three lessons didn't use technology to enhance learning.  One of the participants made a comment that accurately described what we saw in the final video.

"This was the first lesson that enhanced learning.  It couldn't have been done without the technology."

That statements sums up one of the most important things that we all should know and understand as we use technology.  Technology must be used as a tool to enhance learning.  When used appropriately, that tool will drastically change teaching rather than just doing the same thing in a flashy new way.

One to One Apple Laptop Conference

I spent the day last Wednesday in Newell, Iowa at a 1:1 Apple conference.  It was exciting to see approximately 90 participants there representing numerous schools interested in learning more about one to one.  From what I can tell, Iowa will see about a 200% increase in one to one schools next year.  Hopefully, this trend will also be seen throughout the country.

If you'd like to see more information from the day, please take a look at my notes.  One important take away for the schools in attendance came from an Apple representative who described the key success factors for one to one schools.  Here are the seven major components that he listed.

• Leadership
• Assessment and Evaluation
• Curriculum and Pedagogy
• Professional Development
• Community Involvement
• Infrastructure
• Financial Plan

What Happens When Knowledge is Free?

I have previously posted about online education, and the possible future for our current schools.  Indicators point to a drastic change in how high school courses will be taught in years to come.  Another interesting phenomenon with online education has been happening in higher education, and it could have an impact on teachers and students.  That phenomenon is universities are posting entire courses online for anyone to take free of charge.

One course that I took a look at was a computer programming course.  This online course included all of the lectures, assignments, and the exams with solutions.  Education-Portal.com ranked the top ten universities with the best online courses and MIT was at the top of that list.  It becomes apparent after looking at the list that there are a huge variety of classes being offered from the universities.

So are the courses of high quality?

My review focused mainly on MIT which offers 1,800 free online courses.  The course that I viewed was taught by two professors with a combined 55 years of teaching experience at the college level.  Obviously, you would not have all of the benefits of actually being enrolled in the course at the university, but the courses are free!  Students who take the courses do not receive credit, and don't receive the support from the university that students who were enrolled would receive.  Even with these limitations, these free courses provide a pretty amazing opportunity for those who decide to take them.

Could this impact our K-12 schools?

I see two major impacts that this could have on our schools.  Professional development for teachers is one of the ways these courses could impact education.  These online courses may be an excellent, not to mention cheap, way for professional development to really become individualized for teachers.  Administrators could work with individual teachers or small teams to determine how to best use these online resources.

The second area that these free courses could benefit K-12 education is in increasing opportunities for students.  I'm not saying that students would just jump in and take an entire online course in place of one of their courses, although I do believe this possibility needs to be considered.  These courses could open doors to students that were otherwise unavailable.  MIT offers courses in Chinese, German, French, and Spanish.  How many schools currently offer those courses to their students?  Unfortunately, many schools feel handcuffed by state policies that dictate what courses can be taught and what actually constitutes a course.  A little less drastic step may be to use bits and pieces of lectures to enhance a course in which students are enrolled.  

In reading this, some people may be a bit concerned what this could mean for education.  There is a fear that students or educators will have decreased interactions with one another and not be engaged.  Hmmm....doesn't sound much different from many schools today.  It is also important to realize that teachers and students all have different learning styles.  If online courses can enhance a students education or give them opportunities they would otherwise be unable to have, shouldn't we try to give them those opportunities?

Measure what counts, don't just count what's easy to measure

"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." - Albert Einstein

In a new laptop program, it's tempting to try to measure anything that will stand still long enough to be measured. You are spending a lot of money under extra scrutiny, and you want to SHOW that you know what you are doing.

I've written before about some of the ways to help schools through this change process with measurable data. This recent post from the Generation YES blog, Say the change you want to see describes a visioning exercise that helps uncover the hidden hopes and dreams that accompany any major change like a 1:1 implementation.

While we may write in our grant narratives that we expect x% improvement in test scores and y% decrease in textbook costs, we really hope that 1:1 changes more than these bottom line digits. In secret, we hope that students and teachers fundamentally change what school means. How can you  articulate that, much less measure it?

And yet, it's imperative.

Because often, the stated objectives in an implementation plan don’t paint the full picture. There are unspoken wishes, hopes and desires that go along with the hard statistics. The problem is that if you don’t explore these hidden wishes, you can’t plan for them, articulate them, or share the vision. Sometimes these are harder to measure or they sound “soft” and messy. But many times these unspoken outcomes are the most powerful of all. Surprisingly, you may find that they are widely shared, but people feel that they aren’t important or scientific.

You shouldn’t be embarrassed to say them out loud. It’s not silly to hope that the work you do changes children’s lives. If you put those goals in writing, you can plan for them, and more importantly, figure out how to measure them.

You can read about this visioning exercise in my longer blog post, but the bottom line is that you have to envision what success means, including all the hidden goals, and then measure those factors. Sounds simple? Not so fast.

If a goal is to have happier students or more satisfied teachers, how will you know? Somebody better ask them. How will you show it? Somebody better shoot some video and collect some quotes. Plan for that now! Is one of your goals community involvement? Better ask them too! Plan some surveys both before and after the laptops roll out. If you want to say there is an improvement, you have to measure before, after, and maybe in between. And don't just gather data, gather stories.

And ask what you really want to know; don’t let naysayers drain the life out of it. Some people think dry and colorless means authoritative. Hold your ground when somebody rolls their eyes when you say you want to ask students if they like school better or if the laptops change the way the learn. Qualitative data is not a dirty word!

Ask for the change you want to see.

Sylvia Martinez
President, Generation YES

Blog | Website | Twitter

$150,000 FOR A LANGUAGE LAB – I DON’T BUY IT!

Cross posted on Creative Tension. Transfer these ideas to a 1:1 environment and my argument becomes even stronger.

I saw this article yesterday in Digital Directions from Education Week and  it's been on my mind ever since. While I'm actually a huge supporter of the use of technology in teaching and learning for languages,  I believe that there are problems with the way thinking that is portrayed in the article. Now I don't know what the situation is at the school and I'm not in their shoes, but it seems to me that their view is myopic and that they are not looking at the big picture of the future. The future (and the present for many schools) is not in fixed labs where students and teachers have to be in a specific location for learning to happen. The future is anytime, anywhere ubiquitous access.

The article mentions that Robotel's language lab software packages range from $500 - $1500 per seat. I'm assuming that this does not include hardware costs since the article states "software". Based on this figure, the Holmdel foundation raised $150,000 and, according to the article, they had three choices on which to spend it.

The Holmdel foundation was presented with three options for a large fundraising campaign this year: the language lab, LCD projectors in every classroom, or installation of wireless Internet throughout the school building. The foundation chose to raise money for the language lab, Bals says, because parents felt it was important for students to learn to speak other languages, especially in preparation to compete for jobs in a global economy.

What if the money could be used to increase overall student access to technology and also provide students and teachers with access to tools that will help with learning languages?

Let's take the one classroom scenario that Scott M. Hansen, a vice president of Sanako Inc., presents in support of the language lab solution.

... Advanced Placement language courses require students to undergo an oral exam that may take 15 minutes of speaking directly to the teacher. In the past, teachers would have to pull each student to the hallway for the oral exam, while other students kept themselves occupied in class. Depending on the number of students in a class, that activity could take the whole period.

With a digital language lab, says Hansen, the students can take the oral exam, using their headphones and microphones, all at once. Their comments are recorded, and the teacher can listen to each student later.

Let's say that the school instead decided to invest in a number of laptops for students to check out so that they have access to a portable machine. With a wireless network, they can work anywhere in the school. I propose this scenario in support of investing in wireless, mobile access:

While the students are waiting their turn to speak to the teacher they can be ...

• recording their own orals using Audacity, which is a free program. They can then listen to their recording and self-assess their work or they can have a peer or the teacher review their work later on.
• collaborating on a story using photos on VoiceThread, which is available for about $1/ user per year. Voice Thread can be used in all subject matter classes since it's not just geared for learning a 2nd/3rd language.
• studying vocabulary, listening to pronunciations,  or taking short quizzes for formative assessment by using one of many iPhone appsthat are available for a minimal cost.

These are just three low cost options that I brainstormed within a matter of 30 minutes and these provide the teacher with a larger bag of tricks to use as he/she deems appropriate.

Lastly, this topic is a timely one since my family and I are beginning to learn Portuguese to prepare for our move to Sao Paulo, Brazil in July. One of the free tools that we are using is Livemocha and my wife and I are very impressed by the quality of this free web 2.0 resource. Aside from the video/audio lessons our written and oral work is critiqued by Portuguese speakers from around the world. Our responsibility is to do the same for users who are studying English. Livemocha has:

• courses in 36 languages
• over 160 hours of lessons for each
• helpful tips from native speakers
• a focus on conversation skills

While I'm not a language teacher, as a 21st century educator I'm for providing the students and teachers with the the portability that these other tools and a laptop provide.  To me they make more sense than investing in a fixed lab with costly software and hardware solutions.

Jobs of Tomorrow

As educators, one of our greatest roles is to prepare students to be productive citizens in our society.  One major component of being a productive citizen is contributing to our society through employment.  Unfortunately, no one knows exactly what the jobs of tomorrow will look like, and we're not exactly sure what we are preparing our students to do.  Many of the jobs they will hold haven't even been invented yet.

So what are we to do if we don't know exactly what we are preparing our students for?
Although we don't know exactly what jobs our students will hold, we do have a pretty good ideas what fields will see the most growth.  As schools begin to make major second order changes such as one to one, it would be worthwhile to take a look at where those growth areas are.  With those fields in mind, educators may be better able to develop curriculums that will be much more meaningful and relevant for students' futures. 

I have found a couple of different sites that can be used to help steer conversations with educators as they begin to make decisions about creating change in their schools.  These sites each make predictions about the areas of growth for the future.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics -This site also has a teacher's guide if teachers want to share this information with students.
• Careerplanner.com
• Career Voyages-Collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Education

One to One Produces Results!

When I speak with one to one educators, I almost always ask two questions.

1)  Has one to one had a positive impact on student engagement?

2)  How has one to one impacted student achievement?

Question one gets a resounding yes every time.  Some responses to the question have actually been quite entertaining such as the teacher who remarked, "Oh, God yes!"  The responses for question two have also been very convincing.  Many teachers have shared that they have seen increased performance in their classes.  Unfortunately, because my conversations have been limited to beginning one to one schools, I haven't been able to discuss long term achievement results with educators.

I would strongly encourage those schools that are considering the move to one to one to get out there and ask these questions and others to current one to one educators.  Each and every time I have these conversations, I am more convinced of the benefits of one to one.

Edgecombe County Public Schools in North Carolina was recently featured in a story on WRAL.com.  The school is a one to one school, and those interviewed talk about the impact on student engagement and student achievement.

Connecting the Dots

I recently wrote about a workshop I attended with Will Richardson.  During that workshop, Will challenged us to stretch our thinking.  One thing he compelled us to think about was how well we were connecting our dots, where our dots were located, and how many dots we had connected.  (Hopefully, I didn't lose you yet!)  Will was referring to how well we were connected to one another and how well we shared our resources.

Wikinomics by Tapscott and Williams and Here Comes Everbody by Clay Shirky are two books that absolutely reinforce the message Will delivered.  Both books have great examples of how technology and the power of collaboration can help improve organizations, products, and processes.  As I read through those books and participated in the day long workshop with Will, I wondered how well one to one schools are doing at connecting the dots.

My observation is that one to one schools do a better job collaborating than most schools, but they still have a long way to go.  Nationally, fewer than 10% of schools are one to one.  This throws up a roadblock to collaboration because there aren't many one to one schools.  This will require schools to aggressively seek out and develop partnerships with other schools, even if they may not be geographically close to one another.

Leaders need to provide ways for teachers to collaborate with other one to one teachers.  If a Spanish teacher in town A has a great lesson, why should a Spanish teacher in town B not have access to that lesson?  My dream would be for a site, similar to Wikipedia, where one to one teachers could post their best lessons so other teachers didn't have to develop each lesson on their own.  It could also be a place where educators could collaborate with other educators in specific content areas.

Of course, another huge piece of the collaboration needs to occur between educational leaders.  Most of the work that I do with CASTLE is focused on this. CASTLE has developed a wiki where leaders are welcome to use and add resources that may be helpful for other one to one schools.  We will also continue to develop other tools that may help build and strengthen collaborative networks.  When that happens, I'll be sure to let all of you know.Visit our wiki and start connecting the dots today!

Students - your best allies and evangelists for your 1:1 program

In most schools, laptop initiatives start with a vision of improving student achievement, supporting 21st century education, and providing new opportunities for student-centered learning. Stakeholder meetings are held with a wide array of community leaders, business people, educators, parents, and others to gain community buy-in. However in many cases, the largest stakeholder group in a district is left out - students.

In most schools, students are over 92% of the people in the system, and they are certainly the ones most affected by any change. Yet we often overlook them when we plan and implement visionary efforts like going 1:1. This does not have to be - students, if allowed to participate, can be powerful allies and evangelists for your laptop revolution.

Any school-related change, be it technological or otherwise, needs people to feel that they have a sense of control and choice in the efforts. However, students are rarely asked to participate in these changes, and worse, are often seen simply as the objects of change. Including students in the rollout of your laptop program will provide them with a sense of mission and purpose. By allowing them to participate and voice their opinions about changes taking place in their school, their passion and attitude toward the laptops will have a profound effect on their peers, parents, and community at large. Reinforcing the belief that their voice and their actions are important, necessary, and valued creates students who will become empowered, global citizens of the 21st century. Yet this can't happen by itself. As anyone who works with youth knows, the process of learning to become a valuable team member and responsible citizen takes time. It also requires caring adults who supervise, teach, and mentor youth.

In our most recent Generation YES whitepaper, I discuss how students can be partners, allies, and powerful evangelists in any laptop initiative, and outline ways this can be achieved. I've collected many case studies from real schools where this is happening, from elementary, middle, and high schools. I invite you to download this PDF and share this free resource with your laptop team. Student Support of Laptop Programs (PDF)

Other free resources from Generation YES relating to youth empowerment via modern technologies can be found on our website.

For this post, I'll share a selection of these practical tips on including students in every aspect of your laptop initiative.

There are two basic ways students can participate and contribute to the planning and implementation of a laptop program:

1. Committees: Students can participate in technology planning committees, school site councils, technology security committees, or peer review committees. Adults often claim that including students in planning is risky, citing privacy concerns, lack of maturity, or difficult logistics. However, adults often forget that accommodations are made for them when they are included in such planning committees. Adults may or may not know anything about technology, they also have schedules to work around, and may not have been in an actual classroom for years if not decades. 

Having students participate in committee work is not only a wonderful learning opportunity for a student but creates a direct path for student feedback and point of view that is extremely beneficial to teachers and other adults. Adult guidance is key to making this student participation successful, since otherwise students may find the meetings long and the process tedious. A great way to prepare students for collaboration with adults is through role-play. Meet with students regularly prior to and after meetings to discuss progress and get their feedback.

2. Day-to-Day activities related to laptop support: Include students in various roles supporting laptop use. This can include basic technology support, teacher support, building classroom resources for teachers, or helping new users learn about their laptops. Student help can make the logistics of implementing your program run more smoothly and may also ease new users' anxieties. Assemble a student tech team before you begin your program in order to train them on the hardware and software, as well as to familiarize them with new policies. Once the laptop initiative becomes a reality, you will have an enthusiastic, trustworthy student team raring to go.

Tips for students participating in day-to-day laptop support

• Start with a smaller group and give them limited, well-defined tasks. Take the time to get to know the students and establish two-way trust.
• Reward their hard work with recognition, of course, but also more responsibility and trust. Find ways to challenge students intellectually and creatively.
• Anticipate strong student opinions. Encourage students to share their ideas. Students who are ardent users of technology will often have very strong opinions about certain  hardware, software, or operating systems. Include these students in discussions and decision-making when possible. While their strong opinions may be annoying at first, once won over, they can truly be your strongest allies!
• Create a student-centered team. As students show capability, allow them to take on leadership tasks including mentoring new students and planning. This will discourage hacking by creating ownership and understanding of rules and policies.

For more tips, ideas, and case studies of real schools where students support laptops, see the full Generation YES whitepaper, Student Support of Laptop Programs.

By Sylvia Martinez
President, Generation YES

Blog Website Twitter

The Reality of Internet Access

One concern I hear quite often when discussing one to one is that many families do not have access to the internet at home.  For that reason, many educators believe teachers should be very careful about the tasks they require students to complete at home.  I've heard one to one educators say they do not require students to do anything at home that requires the use of the internet.  Schools that do not challenge students to use the internet at home are missing much of what makes one to one so powerful, which is the ability to instantly connect with other people and information from around the world. 

Before school leaders develop policies on what teachers should or should not assign students outside of school, it is important they actually know what percentage of students have internet access.  An excellent way to gather this information would be to survey all of your students. The Pew Hispanic Center recently published such a survey by race and ethnicity.

As you can see, the numbers of internet users are extremely high.  A school with similar results would be crazy to not allow teachers to assign tasks outside of school that required the use of the internet.  Individuals may argue that some students would be left behind because they did not have internet access.  I would argue that the number of students without internet access is so small that teachers could make accommodations for those few students. 

When I was a classroom teacher, I had a similar percentage of students that could not complete any assignments at home.  Their reasons for not completing homework varied, but the bottom line was it just didn't get done.  I could have made the decision to eliminate homework for all students, to eliminate an unfair advantage,  or I could make accommodations for the very small percentage that were unable to complete it.  You can guess which choice I made.

I hesitated on using the word homework in this post because of all of the heated debate about the actual meaningfulness of homework.  There has been a fair amount of research questioning whether or not homework has much of an impact on students at all.  As schools use their one to one technology to assign meaningful tasks at home, I'm willing to bet we will also see more benefits of homework.

 

Reviewing 2009 and 1-to-1 Predictions

Last year I did that nutty out-on-a-limb thing some of us do and made eight predictions for 2009 in my HotChalk column - you can view the entire column here.  Well, looking at just the headings - here's where we seem to be.  

Ultramobiles Adopted in More Schools
With the exception of the name (most people are calling them "netbooks") this seems to have happened.  There's even a new Intel chip coming out that is going to allow more memory and longer battery use.  Windows 7 and Chrome offers a way to address the scrolling issue (the screen is an unusual size requiring you to scroll when viewing Web pages unless you find a workaround); hopefully we will see all the browsers issuing their own netbook version soon.  Netbooks are still not full computers, however, so schools looking to replace desktops or laptops and to use their netbooks for multimedia editing and similar functions will be disappointed.  For writing, revising, editing, and using "cloud" applications such as Google docs, netbooks offer a cost-effective solution.

Bandwidth Tackled
This is on its way partly through stimulus funding and grants - it's unclear how it will turn out. Bandwidth to the Internet in general is still not at the level where it could be - and many times bandwidth within schools is also less than useful.  This is compounded by the fact that many Americans have high-speed Internet access in their own homes, in Internet cafes, and in libraries.  Children come to school expecting the same as do teachers and find they cannot surf and stream video and use the Internet in the same ad hoc fashion they're learned.  

Obama Transition Team Considers a One-to-One Focus for Schools
This has not seemed to happen quite so specifically, although the emphasis on technology given to education stimulus funds means a lot of 1-to-1 pilots have begun or are about to begin this year.

Cloud Computing and Portals More Widely Adopted
Judging by listserv and other conversations, it does seem that Google apps and similar cloud computing products are taking off, and many schools and districts are realizing the benefits of a school wide online learning community or portal.  

Apple Tablet and Improved Inking Technology
It didn't happen in 2009 - but - it looks pretty good for 2010 according to reports supposedly to be announced January 26, 2010.  If/when Apple does release a tablet, it will follow the most widespread and least expensive marketing campaign in recent history - just search on Apple tablet and see the buzz that's been going on for oh at least several years.  Everyone is talking about it, everyone seems to want it, no one has actually seen one, and Apple is grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Virtual Schools Become the Newest large Consumers of One-to-One Hardware and Services
I think this is quietly happening because without 1-to-1 in some way virtual schools, true delivery of education to every student from his/her home, requires the student have his/her own computer.  The very nature of virtual learning emphasizes independent work, working synchronous and asynchronously, and managing time and deadlines, meaning a dedicated computer.  Virtual schools also are becoming the training environment for the way people are working today - with 35% of people with a bachelor's degree doing some work at home - the independent, discipline, and collaboration required for working this way can be learned in virtual schools.

Mobile Labs Will Increase
This seems to be the case as schools continue to purchase more mobile labs that "hard wired" labs especially with the cost of mobile labs continually decreasing.

Continuing Strained Budgets
The stimulus money helped schools everywhere but that won't last forever.  Strained budgets will likely continue for a while.

Best wishes for a truly Happy New Year!