From Revolutionary to Evolutionary: 10 Years of 1-to-1 Computing: Laptop Initiatives Are Now a Decade Old. Once a Point of Controversy, They Have Become the Cornerstone of Every District's Technology Hopes

ONE-TO-ONE COMPUTING is aging quite nicely, thank you. It's getting on 10 years since school districts began experimenting with laptop initiatives, and their efforts--controversial at first, with school leaders and parents questioning the allocation of resources--are now paying enormous dividends. Today large 1-to-1 deployments in schools are welcomed for the transforming educational benefits they are anticipated to bring. The anticipation is warranted. Studies on the effects of 1-to-1 computing, from sources such as the Center for Research in Educational Policy (www.cre.mem his.edu) and NetDay (www.netday.org), all support the premise that student access to computers in the classroom improves student engagement and achievement, and helps students acquire critical 21st-century skills. Whether the computers are desktops, laptops, or tablets, in a lab, on a wireless cart, or on a kid's bedroom desk, students want 1-to-1 access and see computers as learning tools, as essential as a pencil or calculator. Educators agree: What makes the difference is not individual possession of a computer, but rather the availability of computers for classroom instruction. But what will ultimately determine the degree of success a 1-to-1 initiative has is the quality of professional and curriculum development a school provides to support teachers in integrating computers into instruction. Tablets Take Hold Laptops were long the machine of choice for 1-to-1 programs, but tablets are gaining popularity. On the outskirts of Chicago lies Hinsdale Township High School District 86, which numbers about 4,600 students in its two high schools. In 2005, Hinsdale deployed tablet PCs on wireless carts to its teachers and students. The district trained teachers in the use of the tablets and developed curriculum for math, science, and humanities courses that helped them include the computers in classroom lessons. Hinsdale's use of wireless carts is a widely used solution for what can be a daunting appropriation of resources in both staff time and dollars. Carts are popular because they offer plug-and-play computers for all students. Teachers find this minimizes classroom management and tech-support issues. "One-to-one computing and tablet PCs are not revolutionary," says Tim Hohman, Hinsdale's director of technology. "They are evolutionary. We have been building toward this for 10 years, starting with one computer in a classroom, to minilabs, to wireless carts. One-to-one is the next logical step in student computing and learning." Adam Fischer, director of information services and technology at Kent School in Connecticut, says his school has also moved its 1-to-1 initiative from notebooks to tablet PCs. The reason for the move can be seen in the classroom of veteran Kent physics teacher Peter Goodwin. Goodwin's students solve physics equations on their tablets and e-mail their work to him. By reviewing their work step-by-step, Goodwin can isolate exactly where students make mistakes. He then works the problems out in class using the tablet and an LCD projector, posting both the problem and the annotated solution on the class website. Goodwin, after more than 25 years of teaching, has found that the tablets enable him to cover far more material with a higher rate of student mastery. The transition from laptops to tablets was made possible, according to Fischer, by Kent's diligent teacher training efforts. "Instead of dry tutorial sessions, we want teachers in 1-to-1 programs to experiment with the machines," he says. "In addition to regular training sessions, we let our teachers take the tablets home on weekends and over the summer. …