Have you noticed that laptops are starting to dictate what’s happening in the classroom? In addition, mobile technology is evolving where learning takes place. This is all the more true as laptops enter more and more into the field of education.
However, not all educators are quick to take the train of notes. They are waiting to see if using a laptop really changes learning for the better. That’s why schools like Framingham State College in Boston and the Myron B. Thompson Academy in Honolulu are closely scrutinized. Both schools chose to use laptops as a major resource in their program.
It should be noted that the mere fact of having access to a laptop does not change the learning process: the whole program must change and merge the technology with academics. Using a laptop is more than replacing paper and pencil with electronic equipment. The whole relationship between the teacher and the students has to change. Teachers are no longer just knowledge providers, but become facilitators in a learning process with additional tools for communicating with students. This encourages greater student involvement, long recognized as a key to learning.
Professors actively engaged in education through technology see laptops as a way to give concrete experience to tasteless theories. For example, physics students may witness the decomposition of radioactive materials, mathematics students can apply their knowledge in logic to projects using spreadsheets, and English majors can evaluate the poetry and prose of their peers. With the availability of a laptop in the classroom, access to additional information and knowledge is readily available.
So, what do students think of the trend of laptops? Well, most find it invigorating. Rather than face one-dimensional conferences, teachers can use the Internet to show their relevance to everyday life. Stale static texts can be set aside for news reporting, and much more.
As schools connect laptops with learning efficiencies, the trend in laptop use is likely to increase. For those who oppose the technological revolution taking place in today’s classrooms, perhaps we should listen to Maria Montessori’s words.
“… If we always want education to be conceived in the same way as a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little hope of improving the future of man …”