TQ #1

I would like to develop my thoughts in relation to the Virginia case. Although this has not been the first plan developed by a school around the world to provide students with anytime and anywhere learning, it certainly is a good starting point for others to follow. This all began in 2001, when all the High School Faculty was issued a laptop. Middle School Students received laptops in 2002, as well as Elementary School Teachers. It was only a few months later that the Middle School Teachers got theirs. I am not in favor of this, though, since I believe Teachers in Middle School should have received the laptops before the students. Teachers need time to prepare for the change and confidently use technology. In doing my research, I found that during 2001-2002, teachers themselves began to develop online courses for teachers. In my opinion, this is actually a positive aspect of their professional development, which gave other teachers a chance to share their experience with their colleagues (possibly the Middle School ones). This teachers-teaching-teachers approach resulted in an award from the National Association of Counties – Achievement Award in 2003. During those years of implementation, an Online, Anytime Academic Performance Information Tool known as Planet was introduced. This tool provides parents and students access to performance records that are updated every week by the Teachers, while homework is assigned and updated daily. There is also an e-mail feature that allows parents to contact teachers. Planet also received a Best Category award in the Civics Education and Public Information Category of the National Association of Counties – Achievement Award. The schools have also done their part in keeping the public informed about the details of the dynamic Teaching and Learning Laptop Initiative, marketing their efforts and providing valuable information to the community.

At the side of these initiatives, it is evident that students themselves greatly benefitted from the technology in the classroom and the online courses with direct teacher training and support, at all times. Nowadays, students find it easier to learn about complex topics using 3D tools and animations. Assessment is also carried online, allowing them to get instant feedback of their results. This results in teachers having more time to provide meaningful feedback of students’ assignments. On the other hand, there is a great concern about Internet access or inappropriate Web surfing during class time. I have not found detailed information about the wireless solution to monitoring students’ activity. I also found out that Apple computers were amongst the first lot to be delivered and used. These computers use a stable operating system but are quite expensive. Today, the schools buy laptops from Dell because of price issues. Now, Microsoft seems to be winning the battle with respect to the operating system used in the Dell computers. If price is an issue, why is it not possible to use Open Source software? With respect to technical support, I have not seen any mention on this particular topic. I also found out that the reason for shifting from Apple to Dell was not just an issue of cost per laptop, but an issue of technical support. There is a huge task in keeping the computers running with the required software and configurations. It would be interesting to see the statistics of how many laptops break during the year due to student carelessness and whether the insurance companies respond to the claims.

In general, all these initiatives sound great but lack some important information. Teachers that use this system now have to do 200 percent more work than before and worst of all, they get paid the same amount of money. They also spend more time using the Internet because now they have the laptops and are expected to do a myriad of things at the end of the day. After entering information about students, answering abundant parent/colleague e-mails, filling in class registers, and probably writing comments of their students for parents to see, ultimately, they have little time to think about the best tools to use in their classes. I may be wrong but probably not many teachers know how to integrate technology into their curriculum. They have little technical skills and lack the training and vision to do it. Not to mention the numerous times that they are presented with new technological gadgets such as Smartboards or Mimios and are told that they have to learn how to use them pretty soon. Undoubtedly, current school settings and class timetables have to change in order to provide that time for true empowerment in, not just IT skills but also the pedagogy used for succeeding in the class.

From reading Wenglinsky’s book and watching the video on Craig Barrett’s presentation at IDF, I have found a primary goal. Learning, will only take place when at least these three elements are working together, under the same direction. These elements are, a teacher prepared in using technology inside and outside of the classroom, a student that actively participates and is engaged in his own learning and finally, the technological medium used to convey, manipulate and present the information or data for both instructors and learners to use and fulfill their needs. I believe that Henrico Schools are working hard in making this initiative concentrate, primarily, on the wellbeing of the Faculty by guiding them in how to integrate technology into their curriculum. They have also engaged the students in taking extra lessons of their interest. Finally, they are looking for ways of providing more technology at a better cost by making better deals with companies like Dell.