Journal 2 The Laptops are Coming!

McFarlane, Sarah Heller (Summer 08). The Laptops Are Comming. Rethinking Schools Online, 22 No.4, from

Author Sarah McFarlane writes about the invasion of laptops in her Seattle Washington School. Each secondary student in McFarlane’s district would be given a laptop for all the time use as a part of a $149.5 million technology levy. The district was looking to prepare their students for the 21st century by ensuring each student is comfortable with technology. McFarlane’s initial excitement soon changed to fear as she watched the dynamics of her classroom change. At first McFarlane was excited about a classroom webpage, power point presentations and better communication with families. Before she knew it she was keeping up with written and unwritten expectations such as online grades, online attendance, use of e-mail, and substitute request program. The problem was McFarlane was spending a lot of time in front of her computer while students were in the classroom. This was decreasing the face-to-face teaching that is important to developing a critical analysis thought process, development of social skills and improvement of speech. Students were less patient during class discussions often turning to their laptops quietly to search the web or play games. McFarlane become suspicious of her students and if they were really doing work in class, she found herself using a administrative tool to spy on student computers. The classroom soon became a quite room filled with the clicking of keyboards instead of the chatter of children’s voices.
Question #1: Through my experience complete submersion is usually how you drown. Could the district come up with a better way to easy technology into the classroom?
Answer: I think sometimes education is an all or nothing environment. Change is always hard and when big changes come around it’s usually not done right the first time around. I think some of the mistakes were not thinking about the students and the teachers who are not as comfortable with technology. How does this affect their learning? I believe that there are many benefits to technology in the classroom but face-to-face learning is irreplaceable if we want to live in a social society as well.
Question #2 What are the social impacts of laptops in the classroom?
Answer: I am not against technology in the classroom or taking on the responsibility of preparing students for the 21st century. I think school also provides an invaluable resource for socialization. With texting and im messaging face-to-face communication is becoming more infrequent in today’s youth. I believe school is more than gathering information and spitting it out,; there is a large social component that can be taken away with too much technology. Everything in moderation.