Facilitating Learning
One Teacher's Perspective

By Catherine Canzani

I know everyone has an opinion on laptops in schools. Let's face it – we have been put in the interesting position of becoming a pilot project for studying the effects of laptops in schools.

The Eastern Townships School Board is the only school board far and wide to offer every student a laptop to work on throughout his or her school years.

Some parents feel adamant that laptops get in the way of real learning and are a waste of money. Some feel that laptops are an innovative, worthwhile addition to the classroom. Still others think that laptops are a great source of entertainment and motivation for their kids, but that's all.

If you ask students why they enjoy their laptops, you will get a host of different answers: It helps me with my spelling. I can research quickly. I can write a long story and I don't have to recopy it every time I make a mistake. I can't say that the dog ate my homework anymore. Laptops save my erasers. ” With all of these observations and opinions floating around, allow me to offer you one teacher's perspective.

It is the end of August, the first day of school. The school bell rings and students head to their new classes. Amongst the happy greetings and swapping of summer stories, student after student approaches me: “When are the laptops coming in?” they ask. I assure them that the laptops will arrive within two weeks. They walk past the empty laptop cart – and I see the look of longing on their faces.

Two weeks later, the laptops arrive, and the atmosphere is that of Christmas morning. I give the usual talk about laptops being an educational tool and that, although they are excited about having their laptops back, they need to understand that the laptops are not theirs to play with but rather to work with.

I give out their first written assignment. They must define twenty vocabulary words, and then use those words in a story, which they create. There are no groans, no complaints. Students get their laptops, return to their desks, and get down to work. It feels as though someone has sprinkled fairy dust over my nineteen rambunctious preteen students. They sit in silence, absorbed in their assignment. A job that was once distasteful has turned into a pleasurable task.

But are they learning or are they being given a shortcut? I walk around the room and watch as students use their laptop's built-in dictionary. The definitions are simple and easy to understand. Every student is able to do the assignment. Some students are already working on their stories. I watch them check their spelling as the computer alerts them to the fact that they have made an error. I see them scroll through the options and then choose the correct spelling. It's like there's a teacher sitting right there beside them, I think to myself.

It's math class, and I've just spent half an hour going over the concepts of numeration. Students learn about ten thousands, hundred thousands, and millions. They manipulate numbers and learn about the value of a digit depending on its placement in a number.

After the half hour, I realize that not everyone has fully understood or mastered the concepts that I've presented. Remember how teachers used to drill students to help them learn the facts? This is what I decide to do. “Get out your laptops,” I tell my students. Their eyes light up and I hear one or two muffled “alrights!” “We're going to practice the concepts which you learned today.” I direct them to the appropriate math site, where they will do problem after numeration problem. And once again, the fairy dust settles over the class as each student settles in to practice.

We are all startled when the bell rings, signaling recess. “I guess we got carried away,” I tell them with a laugh. Whoever thought math could be such fun!

So, there you have it – one teacher's perspective on laptops in our school. I can't imagine going back to teaching without them.