The really big question, how do we ensure equity?
Have students with their own devices bring them. There are more students who have them than we think, and if the case is made that students are benefiting from the learning, more families will invest in the mobile technology for school and home. If parents can be assured that an investment in Grade 4 will carry their child through for four-to-six years with their learning, many will make this choice. I am often stunned by families that buy their child a cell phone, but don’t have a computer. I am also quite comfortable in saying that if they are investing in a cell phone and not a computer there are better options to support their child’s learning. We need to help guide families with what technology will have the greatest impact in supporting their child’s learning.
Of course, not all students will supply a computer up front, this could range from a few students to the entire class depending on the school or district. The second option would be a lease-to-own option for students. There are a number of options available with price points around $20 per month. This picks up on the cell phone argument, and a more affordable device with more value for student learning. Families could be assured their child would be getting a device that would be ideal for learning for a number of years, and could be used at school and home.
Finally, there are students that, for many reasons (financial and otherwise) won’t embrace the first two options. We need to find ways to supply these students with a comparable technology to use at school. Many schools have class sets of laptops that could be repurposed for this project; in other cases investments will need to be made. The challenge is that the investments will be uneven (and this is difficult to do) with some schools requiring a greater percentage of investment than others.