Anyway, they come to you and ask...
Where should scarce computer resources be deployed for elementary and middle schools?
Mini classroom labs are really useful to the teachers, especially for elementary schools, and receive plenty of use
Full, 25-30 seat computer labs allow for full utilization of the few computers we have to go around; idle computers are a waste of money
How would you answer?
Well, this is exactly the question Christopher Dawson of ZDNET asked of his readers, and the answer surprises and disappoints me. Before you read on, please take a moment to go answer for yourselves even if you're not an elementary or middle school teacher. Go ahead, pretend... I won't tell.
Now, if you read Chris' article first, you may not be surprised to learn that 78% of the 130 voters chose the full lab instead of the mini-lab in the back of the room. Not surprising given that Chris strongly biases his results by giving his opinion of the issue before asking his readers. That's ok really, because while Chris is a great commentator whose work I thoroughly enjoy, he's not, nor does he claim to be, a researcher.
Researchers see it differently
Nobel Laureate, AI researcher, and educator, Herb Simon in “The Steam Engine and the Computer: What Makes Technology Revolutionary” says of computers...
I realized that the best advise was, in fact, just to have one around, for that's the only way a company or a university, or anybody else, is going to learn what to do with it.
I agree Dr. Simon. I completely agree.
The link I have in my Tuesday post is all about usage (or lack of it) You might want to take a look.
ReplyDeleteI just realized I needed to be more specific--it's report #2
ReplyDeleteThe computer in the classroom is the best idea. It is being integrated into the curriculum that way. You don't have to move 30 squirming kids to another room resulting in a hyped up mentality that is not conducive to introspective consideration.
ReplyDeleteThe classroom computers would allow a student to say "Hm-m-m. I wonder." Then the student would wander over to the computer, go online and crawl into his head and try to find an answer, picking up other juicy tidbit along the way as he meanders through hyperspace. This is so student centered and it is so much better.
Thank you Suzon. I tend to agree, although I think we need some additional research on the question.
ReplyDeleteI am a big supporter of computers on wheels (COWS). 24 laptops on a cart with wireless access. As its unlikely computers in each classroom are used every minute of every class, sharing them is a reasonable cost effective idea. Read more about them at
ReplyDeletehttp://idt.memphis.edu:16080/~mgrant2/cows_aera2005.pdf
Michael-I went out to the site you cited--I can use this in my research also. Thanks so much.
ReplyDelete@ Michael,
ReplyDeleteThanks, great resource!