Getting your teachers started with 1:1

Yesterday I wrote about the potential of 1:1 for improving literacy in our schools. However, as we integrate laptops more and more into classroom time, teachers frequently ask for simple ways to get started. How do they use these new resources for something more than glorified word processors or portable Internet viewers?

We don't have the funds for 1:1, but our rolling labs of MacBooks and Classmates are getting heavy usage every day. So far, the focus has been on our RTI implementations, but teachers are increasingly looking for a variety of activities that integrate the machines in the classroom instead of simply devoting part of every day to "computer time."

One of our Kindergarten teachers filmed two butterflies emerging from their chrysalides and worked with our elementary tech to post the edited video on Google Apps (up to 100 users in a domain can access Google Video for sharing throughout the domain and on the web). Others are using ArtRage or doing web quests, but as their comfort levels increase, they're looking for more. While this will certainly be on the professional development agenda this year, I ran across a neat article that works well as a primer for your teachers looking at 1:1.

"Embracing the Vision: One-to-One Computing In Our Classrooms" hits on simple, innovative approaches to classroom activities that can really benefit by putting laptops in students' hands. As the author points out,

I have conveniently ignored the management and technical challenges inherent to one-to-one computing. Those undoubtedly will show themselves, and they must be faced and addressed. But I also have not spoken of the myriad productivity and communications benefits of one-to-one computing. All of those are fantastic, almost worth the cost of admission alone.

The article is worth perusing and sharing, though, when you need inspiration to guide teachers to fully utilize laptops for students. The author notes,

I include those two brief examples as evidence of what I believe is just the tip of an iceberg -- an iceberg that will not sink great ships, but rather will make learning (and teaching!) a more dynamic, engaging, reality-based process. Just imagine what you could do in your classroom if all students had computers. Yes, of course they could take clearer notes (those who type fast enough, that is), but think beyond that.

I'll leave the rest of the article to you, but it's a great starting point for schools looking at portable computing solutions for students, even if true 1:1 is out of reach.