Pie in the Sky--1:1 Computing

The idea of 1 student to a computer is an act of God, in my opinion. I have been a teacher in both situations and the difference between having 4 faces struggling to see a portion of the screen and a single student being able to fully absorb online content while still collaborating is akin to the apples and oranges comparison. There is no middle line. It either sux or it's great. I have come to the point where I do not want to bother with using the computers in the classrooms because they're more trouble than their worth.

I have been thinking about, researching grants for, and talking to anyone I know about acquiring large sums of money to re-vamp the technology in the school building. All these years, I had been advocating for 1:1 computing and hadn't even known it.

I read an article in a magazine, or on the Internet about One Laptop per Child (OLPC). When I saw this, I did a double-take and quickly clicked the link. Imagine my surprise when I found that they wanted to dole out laptops to third world countries. People in the third world need clean water and food. Isn't digital literacy a bit low on the list of priorities when you have to worry about things like cholera or dying in childbirth? I mean come on, let's get every child in the United States a laptop before we go out to a third world country and give what will amount to a very costly paperweight to kids to use. I doubt the wireless connection is anything to write home about (not that you could because you have no one to email). I'm a bit conservative when it comes to technology allocations, so the whole 'giving laptops to others before we have one for each American' is unconscionable to me.

Gary S. Stager is one person that I respect highly for his purpose in advocating for 1:1 computing. I lingered over his website and found his philosophy refreshing and the voice in his writing to be clear and almost comforting. I have emailed Dr. Stager and am waiting for a reply. I would love to hook up with him to talk about how I go about buying 500+ laptops so that all of my school's kids can have one! He seems like a good guy to have on your side.

I don't know how or when, but I know that before I leave my school, I want every student to have a laptop, every teacher to have a laptop, digi projector and Smartboard. Inhibiting students from using technology because money cannot be allocated sufficiently on the budget is a sad thing but it happens in schools every day. Top-down speaking, this ultimately falls in the lap of the government, but don't even get me started on them...