Why One To One Laptop Computers in School Make Sense vs. Desktop Installs.

1. Utilization of Computer Resources
2. Software Availability
3. Log in Time
4. User Customization.
5. Flexibility.

• Inefficiencies in scheduling cause most desktops to be utilized less then 240 minutes a day. Teachers are scheduled to teach 240 minutes a day and most teachers in our district have their own room. This means that these computers are idle when the teacher is not scheduled to teach a class. In the One To One laptop model students have constant access to a computer customized to their needs. These machines travel with the students so that they are used for the entire school day and in addition they are used at home to complete homework assignments. This leads to about a %200 percent increase in utilization.
• In order to achieve one to one computing in a desktop environment it is necessary to purchase many more machines due to the inefficiencies in scheduling rooms and class size. Currently rooms need to be set up with desktops equal to or greater then the maximum class size. This leads to rooms with computers that may not get used on a daily basis in every class. It also means that if one student is added to the class that additional electric, desks, network cables must be installed and setup.
• In a desktop model computers in certain classes may have specialized software installed on them such as graphic design software. In order for students to work on assignments they need access to this software. Currently they only have access in that class to that software, or the district must purchase and install software for all desktops. In a one to one laptop model the software is purchased on the needs of the students classes. It can be installed on their laptop and then taken with them where ever they need it. This allows students to work on their assignments outside of class. This also gives them more opportunities to learn how to use the software. In more affluent school districts parents could purchase the software and computers for the students to use at home. This places most of our students at a great disadvantage.
• In the current desktop model students have to log on to computers in each class and log out at the end of class. This process averages about 5 minutes per class depending on the computers and network performance. If a student has 6-8 classes a day and they were to try to use the computers in every class this could waste 30-40 minutes a day! In a one to one laptop model students can leave their computers logged in and just close the lid between classes. This allows their computers be be available to be used in about 15-30 seconds. It also significantly decreases the spikes in network traffic when all students try to log on as the bell rings.
• In the current desktop model, if someone does not turn the computers each day and make sure that general maintenance is done (Software updates) students may not be able to use the computers when they need them. They could have out of date versions of programs or even the operating system. In a one to one model students will be using their computer all the time, this will minimize the amount of time wasted doing software updates.
• In a one to one laptop model users can customize their computer to fit their needs and preferences. This allows the users to quickly access the information they need in the way that they prefer to see it. In a desktop model the computers do not retain settings for each user and they do not transfer to other computers when they log on. This forces all users to use the computers in a way that is not the most efficient for them.
• One to One laptops also offer flexible learning environments. The computers travel with the students so that they are always available to be used like paper and a pencil. In a desktop model careful planning is key to being able to use the resources. Room layout in a one to one laptop model can change based on the needs of the lesson. Desktop computers are much less flexible and typically can not be moved.

Sharing as a MORAL obligation of teachers.

I have been thinking about the K12online preconference keynote this weekend and what it means to me and the teachers I work with everyday. It got me thinking about what can I do to share more.

I decided to try a recommendation that I learned during the keynote. I started a diigo account and began by sharing my existing bookmarks. I also began working with the other teachers in my school to set up their own accounts. Sharing bookmarks seems to be a low risk environment to begin the process of sharing with other teachers.

I also spoke with several administrators and encouraged them to start blogging and sharing their own reflections. I think this will take some training and encouragement before they are willing to take the risk.

Do your school administrators blog? If they do please post a link here in the comments.

District Wide Training for Teachers and Staff Completed.

We have just completed a two day training class on moodle and Google apps for education. Everyone had the chance to attend four three hour sessions. The session titles were:

1. Basic moodle - Setting up a class and learning to share resources.
2. Advanced moodle - Learning how to use moodle to assess student learning.
3. Google email - Learning how to use email, calendars and groups.
4. Google docs - Learning how to create, share and collaborate using documents and sites.

It was fantastic to see over 50% of the teachers give up two days of their summer to come and learn with each other. The level of energy that I felt in each of the 6 classrooms was phenomenal.

Looking back at the survey results and feedback from everyone here are some of the major learning's:

• The six hours for the Google mail and docs sessions was a perfect amount of time. People had time to play around with and use the various tools. Overall people had a high level of success.
• The six hours for moodle was not enough time to become a master on the topics. People had time to see and understand what moodle is, but more time is needed to support the development of resources and assessments in moodle.
• Some people need more help in authoring content to be placed on their moodle class site. (Creating PDFs, converting image formats, editing video, screen casting, podcasting, etc.)
• Since all staff and students will have access to Google Apps it provides a common platform will everyone can communicate. (Students did not have access to exchange.)
• Using mini-lessons helped everyone to see how to use the tools in a classroom/school environment.
• People felt the training was more valuable because the training was provided by teachers in the district.
• Some people felt that smaller bits of this training over time would be more effective.
• When doing moodle training in the future we need to make sure to tell teachers to bring class resources that they could use to build their class.
• Moodle training needs to be broken up into much smaller sections. Let the people experience the part of the tool, let them create using the tool, let them test each others tools.
• Training needs to better group people by ability and readiness to learn a topic.
• Need to continue training process with support during the school year.
• People enjoying the engaging nature and structure of the classes.
• Having support instructors in each class would be helpful to deal with issues in the class.

Planning Planning Planning

This is the start of a blog that I hope to use to capture the progress of a school that will be going through a major transformation this year. I will try to share the good of what works along with what is not working so that maybe other may be able to help us.
In order to improve student achievement and engagement I will be working with the following tools.

• Google Apps for Education. (Major training and roll out for Sept 1)
• Moodle. (Entering my 5th year, this year will help others to get it rolling.)
• PowerSchool.
• Drupal (Portal, System Integration.)

My current task is to develop a set of questions that can be used in an interview format with teachers to help access their comfort with new and existing technology in the school and how they use it to improve student learning.

What questions would you ask teachers?