Laptops Promote Classroom Revolution!

Have you noticed that laptops are starting to dictate what happens in the classroom? Additionally, mobile technology is changing where learning takes place. This is especially true as laptops are entering the educational field in increasing numbers.

However, not all educators are quick to jump on the laptop bandwagon. They are waiting to see if laptop use is really enhancing learning. That’s why schools like Framingham State College in Boston and Myron B. Thompson Academy in Honolulu are being examined. Both schools have chosen to use laptops as an important resource in their curriculum.

It should be noted that simply having access to a laptop does not change the learning process – the entire curriculum must change and merge technology with academics. Using a laptop is more than replacing pencil and paper with electronic devices. The whole relationship between the teacher and the students must change. Teachers are no longer mere dispensers of knowledge, but rather they become facilitators of a learning process that is carried out with additional tools for communication with students. This encourages greater student participation, long recognized as a key to learning.

Teachers who are actively involved in education through technology see laptops as a way to bring real-life experiences to otherwise bland theories. For example, physics students can witness the decomposition of radioactive materials, mathematics students can apply their knowledge of logic to projects that use spreadsheets, and English learners can evaluate the poetry and prose of their classmates. With the availability of laptops in the classroom, access to additional information and knowledge is available.

So what do students think about the laptop trend? Well, most find it exhilarating. Instead of dealing with one-dimensional lectures, teachers can use the Internet to show their relevance in daily life. Static outdated texts can be reserved for breaking news and much more.

As schools show the link between laptops and learning effectiveness, the trend towards laptop use will certainly grow. For those who oppose the technological revolution that is taking place in today’s classrooms, perhaps the words of Maria Montessori should be heeded.

“… If education is always to be conceived along the same old-fashioned lines of a maternal transmission of knowledge, there is little to expect of it in improving the future of man …”