Technology Article #1

The first article I chose to read and respond to was titled "Laptops Change Curriculum -- and Students." This article was of interest to me because the school that I teach in recently started a laptop initiative, placing laptops in the hands of all of our high school students. It was interesting to note many similar pros and cons that our school is experiencing compared to the Bloomfield, Connecticut school in the article.

One smart thing that the Bloomfield school did was to give teachers laptops six months before students, and then empower the teachers with lots of training and support on implementing the laptops. Teachers in our district were not even given a laptop to use. We still have the old desktop dinosaurs on our teacher's desks which many teachers only use for email and grading purposes.

The sense of excitement that student's felt in the article was also noted at our school. It was like Christmas Day when our students received their laptops. When students had to turn their laptops back in at the end of the school year, it was as if someone had chopped off their right arm.

The article mentioned that even the glitches that people experience when dealing with technology have taught the students persistence and problem-solving skills. This was not something that I had thought of before, but is a nice bonus!