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You will need to register to download this 44 page eBook. This eBook is well written, and explores a lot of issues that you should plan for if you contemplate a laptop for every student project (That's what 1:1 computing means.)

Of course, the success of this type of project depends upon avoiding the issues found in the for "For example,

• Teachers will need to adapt and change their teaching styles.


• Administrators will need to provide the support, time and resources for teachers to prepare.
• Technology staffs will need to make the infrastructure work consistently and reliably.


• School board members and Superintendents will need to establish policies regarding Internet access, student responsibility, insurance, data management and back up, and security.


• Parents and community members may need to fund technology programs and policies.


• Districts will need to implement sophisticated database management to monitor and support academic progress."

(p. - 10)

What this eBook does not state is just how difficult this project is.

For example, the eBook does not state that it will take about three years for teachers to master the habits and skills that are required "to adapt and change their teaching styles."

Not stated: About 40% (over three years) of the project's budget will be required to "provide support time and resources for teachers to prepare."

Not stated: Technology staff will need to be expanded at a rate of one technical staff person for each 75 or 80 laptops. Of course the actual districts strategy will be to stretch this to one person per building, probably added to other teaching duties instead of hiring certified technicians and software engineers.

Not stated: How much cost in, technical staff, and teacher training will be needed to "to implement sophisticated database management to monitor and support academic progress."

For another view of 1:1 Computing projects, visit our Blog response to a USA Today article at:

http://tinyurl.com/m5gr4

Other considerations:

• Certified server and network engineers earn as much (or more) than school principals (maybe even more than head coaches)


• By the time that teachers have changed their habits, skills and teaching practices, the laptops will be obsolete, and students will no longer use them


• Internet access from home would require parents to pay for the access, but properly configured laptops would not allow students to install software. This means that the district's IT staff would have to customize each for the parent's Internet Service Provider (ISP), or the district would have to negotiate a deal with a specific ISP that all parents would have to use.


• Warranty and insurance against breakage and loss might be paid for by parents, but what happens to families who cannot afford this additional cost?

We can go on and on with how complicated the details and how high the costs are for running an expensive program like a 1:1 laptop initiative.

But, there are more important issues such as whether teachers are involved in the design and planning of these projects, whether teachers are given the release time and lag time for the training that they need (instead of additional burdens of uncompensated time being added as yet another demand upon teachers).

One particularly insidious idea that often is floated by education policy and decision-makers is that, since we have "given" the teacher a laptop to use, the teacher "owes" the district a pile of free and uncompensated work.

Such beliefs need to be exposed to the light of reason and fair labor standards.

One final question: "If the school district has so much money that they can start an ill-planned, money-devouring project such as a 1:1 Computing program, why can't they provide substantial raises for all teachers?"