a.
Throwing teachers and students into such a massive undertaking is a sure cause for epic failure. The main reason is that nowhere in the case study does it mention that teachers were trained or instructed on how to use the technology or how to efficiently access all of the texts online. Now, not only do the teachers need to figure out what the best use of the laptops are, they also have to teach and train all of their students how to access their textbooks and upload and do assignments online. Throughout the decades, one of the biggest reasons why technology has been slow to catch on is because of "failure to provide teachers with adequate guidance as to how to integrate the new media into their instructional practices" (p. 27). Just because a technology is available and a great resource does not necessarily mean all teachers and students already know how to use or will be able to figure it out easily on their own. Dating back to the original use of film equipment, "teachers had difficulty in operating film equipment" (p. 18).
Another reason why the total integration of laptops and wireless capability did not have much effect on the instructional practices employed by teachers is because of cost. Now that the district paid for laptops and wireless capability at home and school for all teachers and students, what money is left over for anything else? When something of this magnitude is implemented, there is also the cost of managing it. Technology is constantly needing to be updated and monitored, especially when students are given access to the internet. So many things are being added to the internet every second of the day which allows for more temptations and distractions. In order to avoid as many of these distractions and temptations as possible, more money needs to be used.
The last reason why the integration did not have a great effect is due to over-exaggerated optimism from experts in the area. There should always be a pilot program before jumping in to a project of this magnitude. In 1913, Thomas Edison said, "Books will soon be obsolete in the schools . . . " (p. 18). Look at how long ago he said that and was wrong! It just goes to show that we have many looking further ahead than their own lifetime and think it will be the norm. When, in reality, change this big takes time and much careful modification along the way. Another great statement came from Papert in 1984 that "the computer was going to be a catalyst of very deep and radical change in the educational system and that by 1990 one computer per child would be a very common state of affairs in schools in the United States" (p. 21). Change is definitely great, but sometimes it takes a lot longer than predicted in order to be successful.
b.
I have actually gone through this whole process myself this past school year and can definitely tell you what could have been done better in our particular situation. The biggest strategy would be guided instruction on how to best use the laptops and wireless capability. Teachers do not have endless amounts of time to research ways to best use technology instructionally in their classrooms. Proper guidance and time to figure this out is essential in order to equip teachers enough for them to feel in control. Because teachers are not given adequate training and time, they feel helpless, overwhelmed, and underappreciated. These feelings, therefore, run over into the classroom and how they are able to relate with their students.
Another strategy would have been to gradually employ the laptops to teachers first and then students. Teachers need to have time themselves first with the devices before the students so they are familiar. Give the teachers a year with the laptops and then give them to the students. Too much all at once is never a success. We all know that teachers are also given more than one new thing a year, so to add this huge integration as well as all of their other things that pop up during the year, can cause a huge amount of stress.
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