Journal 10

Kansas School District Rolls Out 1:1 MacBook Program by Dave Nagel
THE Journal November 2007

This article by Dave Nagel intrigued me because this issue, a lack of the technological advantages of wealthier students, is a very real concern at my children's school. Our school, like the schools in Kansas City, KS, has a high percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Closing the achievement gap and giving these students the tools for success is a primary concern. I was curious to read this article and learn how the Kansas City School District was able to achieve this goal.

The reason that the district chose the MacBooks is very insightful. In addition to having students have access to their computers twenty-four hours a day for classroom studies, accessing assignments and conducting research, the district wanted the students to use the laptops to explore the technologies and to become producers of media and information themselves. Nagel writes that David A. Smith, assistant to the superintendent for communications, envisions students becoming creative with their computers and that the iLife suite allows them to do this. As Smith says, "We expect [students] to be producers of information, not just consumers."

One obstacle to the implementation of the program was, of course, funding. The district chose to use monies from the capital outlay budget which pays for the renovation of facilities and athletic fields. Another obstacle was, surprisingly, skepticism about the students themselves and their abilities to handle the responsibility of having the laptops. The district installed many security features and the laptops can be disabled remotely if they are lost or stolen.

Questions:
1. Why aren't on-campus computer labs a solution? On campus computer labs are often overcrowded, particularly with the ongoing testing that is mandated by the state and federal guidelines. Also, as this article points out, the goal is to have students become a creator as well as a consumer and this can only be accomplished with time to explore and collaborate in an unstructured setting.
2. What about the trade-off between athletic fields and computers? The trade-off between athletic fields and laptops is an interesting one. In society today there is a lot of discussion about childhood obesity and the importance of physical activity; obviously athletic fields are important. In the article Nagel writes that the Kansas City district decided that while athletic fields benefit only some of their students, the laptops would benefit all students.