Laptops...Friend, or Foe?

The first question my students ask now as they enter the classroom is, "Do we get to use the laptops today?" When the answer is "no," disappointed sighs ensue. While my response to the laptops is largely positive, there are still a few problem areas I need to address.

First, any activity involving the laptops will consume at least half of the classtime, and if you think otherwise, you're just fooling yourself. Although technological difficulties are lessening each day, Blogger is still a mysterious and temperamental creature that lashes out when you're least expecting it, frustrating even the most experienced of bloggers and drawing out activities designed to be quick.

Second, as aforementioned, the laptops seem to be addicting. Many students are turning their noses up at activities that they used to enjoy because they'd rather "blog it out." While I recognize that this is largely because the laptops (and the blogging) are exciting because they're new, and that much of this will dissipate as the laptops become routine, it's still a bit disconcerting. I hope that teachers will use the laptops with caution...call me old fashioned, but I hate to think of a classroom where blogging is valued OVER face-to-face conversation.

Now that I've vented, I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the utility of the laptops each time I use them. They do shorten some activities. For example, visual collages are much more efficiently produced on the computer than the old way with scissors, paste, and magazines. It's also helpful to watch my students compose essays on the computers and to be able to model what they're doing on the overhead screen. I'm also noticing that many of the teacher web sources that I've used in the past, such as readwritethink.org, have links to interactive activities now, and the laptops will be useful for these, as for links to online literature that our anthologies are lacking.

I also see the students treating their laptops with respect, and the focus and intensity in their eyes as they work on the computer is unmatched. There is no worksheet that will inspire that kind of attention.

And I know of course, that all of these activities are still part of the technological dark ages, and that there are countless uses of the internet that I haven't even dreamed of, and this is more inspiring than it is frightening. But only by a small margin.