10 years after laptops come to Maine schools, educators say technology levels playing f... - 2 views
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Ten years later, each seventh- and eighth-grader in Maine public schools and every grades 7-12 teacher has a laptop paid for by state taxpayers, at an annual cost of $11 million
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Bryan Lee on 23 Mar 11Do these laptops follow the students around throughout high school I wonder, or are they just dedicated to the middle schools?
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The annual cost for the high school laptops is about $7 million, or $242 per student
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The price includes technical development for teachers, support and repair.
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And, through the Maine Department of Education, 60 percent of Maine high-schoolers have laptops, paid for by local property taxpayers. That's a total of 72,000 laptops, according to the DOE
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students do not get to keep the laptops
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I poked around and found the Maine site containing the information: http://www.maine.gov/mlti/index.shtml
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...but do students get to take the laptops home? What is their acceptable use policy? What user agreement do they use?
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Writing test scores have improved
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schoolwork more interesting
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A 2009 study by David Silvernail of the Maine Education Policy Research Institute at the University of Southern Maine showed that laptops helped students become better writers, boosting writing test scores statewide
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math skills have jumped
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Educators credit the method of teaching math in middle school: laptops, no textbooks.
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In 2001-02, Freeport Middle School's eighth grade passing rate on basic math tests was about 50 percent. In 2009-10, it was 91 percent, math teacher Alex Briasco-Brin said
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It's got to be more than just the laptops. I can't see how the laptops themselves are panaceas. What lesson changes is the article not mentioning?
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Gov. Angus King's proposal to give every seventh-grader in Maine a laptop
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equal access
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In physical education classes, students create movies to show their juggling skills and gross motor skills
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learn advertising and to analyze media
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math teachers doing online skill-based type of things and online quizzes
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Glogster where they create digital posters, and upload photos and music for reports.
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They'd throw their wallet at the problem. Those kids came in with professional-looking documents,” Robinson said, compared to plain-looking reports from students whose parents did not have as much money. Having laptops means all students can do the same quality report, regardless of their parents' income, “because they all have the same tools,” Robinson said.
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This sort of echoes the helicopter parent problem mentioned at the in-service, when parents alleviate stress by either doing the kids' project, or offsetting problems with dollars. It comes down to an issue of educational equity.
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“I got used to knowing when to go on Skype: after my homework is done; when to go on Facebook: after my homework is done. As I got better, my grades started to go back up,” Trevor said.
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the laptops go home, where kids have access to all sites
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At FETC, Verizon Wireless claimed to be able to block sites through the coverage they provide. That was specifically for cellular handhelds in class. Does the same hold for wireless access? Could it?
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Learning happens best when you make mistakes
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“Part of it is supervision, he said. You don't hand the keys to your car to your teenager without rules.
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Pennsylvania started a program but closed its doors when funding went away
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In Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff", the Mercury astronauts mentioned what it was that launched those rockets. It was funding. "No bucks, no Buck Rogers." It's the same everywhere.
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'I want this device to be an extension of their arm, a routine way to learn,'”
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