If Every Child has their own laptop, what are
the implications for the New Face of
Education?
Bruce Dixon & Sean Tierney
School of the Future Summit, Helsinki, Finland
A vision of learning built around a very powerful idea...
“More and more I was thinking of the computer
not just as hardware and software but as a
medium through which you could
communicate important things. ….an
instrument whose music is ideas.
The best thing a teacher can do is to set up the
best conditions for each kid to learn. Once you
have that, then the computer can help
immeasurably. Conversely, just putting
computers in the schools without creating a
rich learning environment is useless -- worse
than useless!”
http://www.honco.net/os/kay.html
21st Century Learning Ingredients
Digital
Curriculum
Improved
Learning Methods
Technology
eLearning
Environments
Professional
Development
Connectivity
eLearning Ingredients
Digital
Curriculum
Improved
Learning Methods
Tec
Improved Learning
Methods
hno
Professional Development
logy
Professional
Development
Digital Curriculum
Connectivity
Technology
Connectivity
eLearning Environments
Learning Value
1:1 eLearning
Classroom
eLearning
PC Labs
Basic
ICT
Digital Curriculum
Improved Learning Methods
Professional Development
Connectivity
Technology
Why consider One-to-One?
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Equity-Narrows the Digital Divide?
Economic-budget imperatives?
Unlocks the possibility of personalised learning?
Improves assessment alternatives?
Provides opportunity for textbook replacement?
Marketing-competitive advantage?
Expanded pedagogical opportunities?
Research on the impact on learning?
Offers 21st Century Learning opportunities
-extends formal learning communities and expand global
communication and collaboration, and develop creative
expression
..offering more compelling learning experiences for all students.
A one-to-one initiative
…every student with their own laptop..why not?
Where will the funding
come?
How can we make it
happen?
..build equity not
inequality!
A simple idea that just
might work!
Why is it important for each child to have a
computer? What's wrong with community-access
centers?
“One does not think of community pencils—
kids have their own.
They are tools to think with, sufficiently
inexpensive to be used for work and play,
drawing, writing, and mathematics. A computer
can be the same, but far more powerful.
….and these belongings will be well-maintained
through love and care.”
Nicholas Negroponte 2005
a shift in focus..
Learning will not take place only inside schools and colleges, but
in communities, workplaces and families.
The shift to thinking about learning beyond the classroom
requires a shift in our thinking about the fundamental
organizational unit of education…from the school, an institution
where learning is organized, defined and contained…
…to the learner, an intelligent agent with the potential to learn
from any and all of her encounters with the world around her.
Tom Bentley, 1998
Transformative Teaching & Learning…
• Assists in creating collaborative learning communities connected in unique
and exciting ways.
• Allows us to build compelling models for using technology to improve the
learning experiences of students.
• Allows us to explore new directions and more challenging and rigorous
concepts:
• Integrates a range of teaching tools providing an effective learning support
and accountability framework
• Allows us to offer true differentiated instruction to individual students, to
teach one student, at a time, and provide a more effective, powerful
learning experience for all.
44
A different view of the nature of learning
• Anyone can now learn anytime, throughout their life
• Anyone can now learn anywhere, wherever one has
access to the Internet
• Anyone can now learn anyhow, in tacit, non-formal and
formal ways
• So, learning need not, and perhaps even should not, be
concentrated in a given period of life (school age) and
in a particular place (the school) nor ought it to be
“standardized”, “one size fits all”
19
What does the research tells us
about how technology enables
improved learning opportunities
for our students?…
What the research tells us…
•
Student attendance increases and students are more
motivated and more engaged (Russell, 2004, New Brunswick, 200406)
•
Students write more, more often and better. (Silvernail, 2004,
Warschauer, 2005)
•
Overall improvement in test scores (New Brunswick, 2004-06 +)
•
Students engagement in critical thinking, problem-solving,
and higher-order thinking on a task increased with 1-to-1
students; more willing to address/assess controversy within
an assignment (Rockman, 1998)
What the research also tells us…
• Increase in 21st century learning skills – including multimedia
engagement, greater quality/quantity of writing, multiple/deeper
investigation of information (Warschauer, 2005)
• Motivation, engagement, independent work, interaction, and class
preparation/participation of students with disabilities improved
(Harris, 2004)
• Access to a laptop for teachers and their students often forced a
change in teachers’ level of risk and openness to learning (Rockman,
1997)
• As digital confidence grows, and teachers are more ambitious…
•
•
•
More students are accessing more mathematics in deeper ways.
Students explore new dimensions of accessing new knowledge
Students are more engaged in in-depth research (Warschauer, 2004)
What the research tells also us…
•
Teachers perceive that students exhibit a range of learning
behaviors that are better because of the laptops (Silvernail,
2004)
•
There is a greater level of effective delivery to students with
special needs and individualized learning programs. (New Brunswick,
2004-06)
•
There is a statistically significant change towards a constructivist
teaching practice; teachers indicated the laptops were
important in making these changes (Rockman, 2000)
•
Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs significantly affect implementation and
success (Penuel, 2005)
The research we (very much) look forward to…
• More evidence of how 21st Century/digital pedagogy will
improve learning outcomes for all students
• What attributes of leadership best enable the development
of a contemporary learning culture within a school
• What is Assessment 2.0 ? -new metrics for learning that better
reflect the needs of the 21st Century.
• Detail on the most effective programs that build significant
change in teaching practice
…and, just how far student’s learning can go… when they are
given the Freedom to Learn!
Standard Question 1
“Our school wants to start a student laptop
program..
Which ones should we get?”
Standard Question 2
What data do you have that will help us convince
the staff / admin we need a laptop program?
Standard question 3
What do you mean
“What is our VISION for our student laptop
program?”
Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop
Laptops
Scores of the leased laptops break down each
month, and every other morning, when the
entire school has study hall, the network
inevitably freezes because of the sheer
number of students roaming the Internet
instead of getting help from teachers.
So the Liverpool Central School District, just
outside Syracuse, has decided to phase out
laptops starting this fall, joining a handful of
other schools around the country that
adopted one-to-one computing programs and
are now abandoning them as educationally
empty — and worse.
“After seven years, there was literally no evidence it
had any impact on student achievement — none,”
said Mark Lawson, the school board president here in
Liverpool
Components of a successful 1-to-1 initiative
Components of a successful 1-to-1:
Components of a successful 1-to-1:
School Readiness:
Consider:
Technical Support
Physical Security
Connectivity
Learning Environment
Wireless Access
Staff Readiness
Network Storage
Parental Support
Power Supply
Community Support
Security
Leadership Support
Baseline Project Plan:
What is a realistic, manageable timeline?
What are the project priorities?
How will change be managed?
How are the project tasks divided?
What is the communication strategy?
What are the policies & procedures to be defined?
Baseline Project Plan:
Baseline Project Plan
Components of a successful 1-to-1:
Pedagogical Reform:
An ongoing Process involving structured Professional
Development around:
Re-Imagine Curriculum Opportunities
Examining new learning possibilities enabled by
technology
How to model and replicate best practice
Exploring new forms of assessment
How technology can enable constructivist learning
What new benchmarks can be set
Components of a successful 1-to-1:
Technology for Teachers:
Underpinned by structured Professional Development
Teachers need to be comfortable with the technology
prior to students having devices
Improves teacher professional productivity
Enables development of 21st century learning resources
Basic Software Issues:
Set curriculum objectives, then find software tools to match
Cohort specific requirements
Imaging (Ghosting), Upgrade Management, SOE,
compatibility
Licensing: MEA, Virus Protection, System Licenses
Software Registry
External Software Policy
Supporting Technology :
Components of a successful 1-to-1:
Student Laptop Deployment:
Implementation Models
Purchasing Models (Consider software licensing, equity etc.)
Phased Implementation (by grade or class)
e.g. Year 7 and 9
Whole of School Implementation
Timetabling (mixed classes / laptop only classes)
Device Registry / Delivery / Timing
External Software Policy
Supportive Policies:
Examples
Security / Storage (lunch time, sport, after school etc.)
Games / Chat
Service / Support (pricing & limitations)
Flat batteries / Swap-out batteries
Backup / recovery
Device Flexibility / Options
Role of Parents / Mandatory training?
Other considerations:
Selecting a device fit for purpose (PSA v local relationships)
Insurance regulations
What is the professional development plan?
How are the project tasks divided?
What is the communication strategy?
What are the policies & procedures to be defined?
Communication Strategy:
Involve parents, staff, students, P&C / P&F and broader
community in planning stages
Be transparent
Set realistic expectations
Provide information / education to all stakeholders
Proactively celebrate successes
Summary
1. Recognize that digitalizing a didactic approach to learning
is NOT the answer:
• Technology is NOT a replacement for textbooks
2. Consider technology as a TOOL for bringing about
desirable attributes of learning:
•Independent, self directed learning
•Higher-level critical thinking
•Problem Solving
•Collaboration / teamwork
•Modelling the world the students are inheriting
3. Get it right..
Financing 1-to-1
Within 5 - 7 years, conventional whiteboards and
blackboards will be more expensive than high definition
interactive screens per square inch
One-to-One Funding Equity
Core Principles
• Funding should ensure all students can participate
• Everyone who benefits should make some contribution
• Funding should be structured to ensure it can be
sustained indefinitely
• Laptop funding must be supported by a commitment
to professional development
A unique funding option…
School
Shared Cost Model
Fluid
…that is sustainable, replicable and scalable.
Start with some assumptions….
• Student laptop
Total Cost
$850
$1100
Over 3 years $32/month
• Bag
$50
• 3 years insurance
$150
Software *
$50
A unique funding option…
School- 5%-$1.60
Shared Cost Model $32/month
Fluid
…and this is sustainable, replicable and
scalable…every child can benefit.
An alternative….
• Intel Classmate
Total Cost
$450
$600
Over 3 years $17/month
• Bag*
$30
• 3 years insurance
$70
Software *
$50
A unique funding option…
School-10%-$0.87
Shared Cost Model $17.45 month
Fluid
…and this is sustainable, replicable and
scalable…every child can benefit.
The unconnected classroom / learner
during school time
occasional
expert visits
school
community
occasional
class
excursions
teachers
school
library
snail mail
mobiles, phones, fax machines, TV, video
The connected learner
any where ~ any time ~ in time
Primary sources
Secondary sources
writers
original artefacts
and documents
people’s
experience
learning
communities
world libraries
and museums
online learning
websites
experts
organisations
collective
thinking
digital
repositories
Unis/Colleges
all teachers
any school
RSS feeds
speakers
peers
collaborative
projects
original works
networks
original photos,
images, video,
audio
learning
objects
world news
world events
common
interest groups
action learning
groups
global
groups
commercial
companies
Carr 2006
MOO chat forum wikis blogs LMS CMS podcast data/tele/video conferencing
messaging email & listservs video cast/streaming webcasts meeting tools web authoring
mobiles, phones, WAP, VOIP, PDAs, tablets, desktop, laptop, future technologies
Creating a district-wide wireless broadband could mean…
• Access for students within and outside their classrooms
and their schools.
• Minimal access costs built into the computing costs ? eg
$4-5 per month for unlimited* access anywhere in the
District
• Opportunity for cost recovery through universal
student contribution and extended access for business.
• An emerging business model that should have
applicability to other schools across the State and
beyond.
www.aalf.org