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I've been getting this question a lot lately from administrators, parents, and taxpayers. The question isn't malicious, but rather comes from folks with a vested interest in making sure that our technology dollars directly benefit students. Does giving teachers laptops directly benefit students? For people who aren't actively teaching in a classroom, that's a hard question to answer. I don't think it's very hard for teachers to answer the question, though, especially at the secondary level. For most people entering the business world, there is no question that they will have a computer on their desk when they are hired. It might be a laptop, a desktop, a shared desktop facilitated with some sort of flextime arrangement, or even a computer allowance so that the new hire can buy a machine that makes them the most productive. However, it's not terribly likely that they'll just be handed a dry erase marker and a whiteboard, pointed towards a copy machine, and told to go for it.

When we began preparing for our laptop program rollout, teachers were excited but a bit nervous.  One thing we've tried to do is give them a chance to communicate with us and with one another about the challenges they see in the year ahead.  We began a Google Doc for them to use to share their questions, fears, and frustrations as they thought about how their classroom would change after our 1:1 rollout.

More on laptops in classes

Research offers a way to start conversations that can affect educational reform. Considerations on Technology and Teachers is a collection of some of the best research articles from the Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) over the past five years. JRTE editor Lynne Schrum and the editorial review board chose these articles because they provide context about where we have been and how we should be moving forward, both in research and in practice. Topics include the impact of project-based learning on teachers' technology use, e-portfolios in teacher education, and the outcomes of a campus 1-to-1 laptop program. At the conclusion of each article, the original authors reflect on their study, examine the landscape since their research was published, and provide suggestions for further study.

good resource for iPod educators