One Laptor Per Child. Or not
May 4th, 2007
Something to reflect on on today’s New York times (and not really about the OLPC project): Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops.
The students at Liverpool High have used their school-issued laptops to exchange answers on tests, download pornography and hack into local businesses. When the school tightened its network security, a 10th grader not only found a way around it but also posted step-by-step instructions on the Web for others to follow (which they did).
We should always remember that technology per se is not the solution. We first need a problem, we then pose a question and then we seek for answers. Putting answers forward and then looking for questions is not a good way to move forward. If you don’t have a plan to use computers, don’t buy them. If you don’t have a very good use for a computer in the classroom, don’t use it. If you don’t have a really good idea of how students will behave once they’re given a laptop, don’t give them one.
But, of course,
“Where laptops and Internet use make a difference are in innovation, creativity, autonomy and independent research,” he said. “If the goal is to get kids up to basic standard levels, then maybe laptops are not the tool. But if the goal is to create the George Lucas and Steve Jobs of the future, then laptops are extremely useful.”
Meaning that, for some uses, computers are a tool allowing educators and learners to dome things that would be impossible without them. It is then that you should first do some research and then use computers in teaching (which doesn’t necessarily mean in the classroom).