Loving the laptops
Portland Press Herald, May 21, 2007
(excerpt) While some school districts in other parts of the country are scrapping laptop programs, citing high costs and few tangible benefits, Mainers remain high on the machines. A soon-to-be completed study at the University of Southern Maine will give laptop advocates some scientific evidence to back up their claims that the devices can bolster learning.
The lack of scientific evidence continues to fuel the debate about the value of putting a computer into the hands of every student. In recent years, a handful of school districts gained national media attention for backing away from the technology. Liverpool Central School District in New York announced it is phasing out laptops next year because of students' misuse and abuse of the devices. Broward County, Fla., abandoned its plan to give laptops to its 260,000 students, citing the high cost of computer repairs in a pilot program.
Advocates of laptop programs say those failures are the exceptions to the rule, however. Districts adopting laptop programs outnumber the districts that have shelved them, said Matt Hoover, program manager for the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for laptop learning in Bellevue, Wash. He estimates that a half-million laptops are being used in one-on-one programs around the world.
(excerpt) While some school districts in other parts of the country are scrapping laptop programs, citing high costs and few tangible benefits, Mainers remain high on the machines. A soon-to-be completed study at the University of Southern Maine will give laptop advocates some scientific evidence to back up their claims that the devices can bolster learning.
The lack of scientific evidence continues to fuel the debate about the value of putting a computer into the hands of every student. In recent years, a handful of school districts gained national media attention for backing away from the technology. Liverpool Central School District in New York announced it is phasing out laptops next year because of students' misuse and abuse of the devices. Broward County, Fla., abandoned its plan to give laptops to its 260,000 students, citing the high cost of computer repairs in a pilot program.
Advocates of laptop programs say those failures are the exceptions to the rule, however. Districts adopting laptop programs outnumber the districts that have shelved them, said Matt Hoover, program manager for the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for laptop learning in Bellevue, Wash. He estimates that a half-million laptops are being used in one-on-one programs around the world.
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