The Laptops are coming! The Laptops Are Coming! by McFarlane

McFarlane, S. (2008). The laptops are coming! The laptops are coming!, Rethinking
Schools, 22, 22-26.

This article expresses concern over laptops in the classroom. I am not sure how the impact is in the bigger schools and how the rules for the technology is played, but I know in our school the way the laptops are used is strictly for information usage and sites like myspace are blocked. The technology department in central office down in Mountain Village has access to our computers and can totally shut down the first class system to keep our minds on the conference during our workshops or in-service days.
I am not sure how I feel about using laptops in the classroom, but I know they are useful. I am concerned about the interpersonal skills that the author mentioned that was missing in her English Language Learner program. Like her, I am aware of how much “quiet” time students have and that they are perfectly happy if they don’t have to speak up in class. It is like having lessons in math using Saxon as the only resource and teaching skills but not using the whole class as mini-lesson opportunities. Some teachers use that program as the only source to teach math and therefore leaving out elements like daily lessons for the whole class. Kids get really bored with that method and say that their teacher does not teach them but that they are stuck on worksheets and that is the only method of lesson delivery.
Laptops to me are a useful tool, but you have to ask yourself those hard questions about using it as a resource and not as the only mode of teaching. Language use and practice as well as students who struggle to learn how to use the computers are some elements to look at and consider.