15 laptops

[robwall]

Hi everybody

I know that the formal course is over, but I didn't want to let that
stop me from getting some ideas from you. There is a possibility that
my school might be getting 15 laptops. We're a school of about 800
students and about 45 teaching staff. Most of our classes have more
than 15 students. I'm not sure if there are any strings attached for
the laptops but I'm trying to think of some possibilities.

So, my question to you is if you had 15 laptops coming into your
school, what would you do to maximize their benefit to student
learning. I'm trying to consider both short term and long term benefit
to students.

I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Rob

[Angela Balkwill]

Rob,

Our school has a population of @500 students and we received "laptop carts" that included 10 laptops, data projector and some other goodies. Currently we have the cart on a sign out basis. What we are noticing is that those who sign it out are often using it for word processing. Obviously this is not what the intent was. So, now we have a technology club that meets weekly and learn different ways to utilize the cart. It's a start. In the fall the school division will be providing a second cart to all the schools. This will help as the cart is always in high demand and is booked months ahead of time.

I'm interested to hear what other schools are doing.

Angie Balkwill
Vice-Principal
Henry Braun School
Regina Public School Board
(306) 791-8548
angela....@rbe.sk.ca

________________________________

Hi everybody

Rob

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[Rob Wall]

That's certainly one of the models that we're looking at. I've tried
having after school sessions with teachers before. I had 2 or 3
regulars but hardly anyone else show up. Maybe the laptop cart would
provide the impetus to make something like that work better. Are
teachers able to sign laptops out overnight and on weekends so they
can play?

[Kimberly Brown]

All of the schools in Regina Public received one (some bought another) media cart with 10 macbooks. The cart is a mobile lab with data projector, digital microscope, cameras etc. We have a sign out sheet and book the cart for use in our classrooms. It works pretty slick. The teachers have found that they need to forward plan to book the cart for when they have digital projects. We have a teacher who doesn't plan ahead and kept sending students to check if the cart was being used. It took him a few months but he's finally starting to plan a bit ahead.

The laptops supplement computers we already have in our classrooms. I'm lucky because I have five desktops and two Ibooks. Add ten laptops and I'm up to 17 computers. My 27 students usually work in partners on the computer doing partner work or taking turns writing blog posts.

Hope this helps you in your planning,
Kimberly

[Kimberly Brown]

Teachers are welcome to sign the laptops out if needed. We're lucky because each teacher in RBE elementary received a MacBook for their own use. HighSchool teachers received a pc style laptop.
I did send a MacBook home with my intern so she could become familiar with a Mac.
Kimberly

[Laurie Gatzke]

Hi Rob,

We have two mobile carts in our school.  One cart has 15 laptops and one has 12.  They are great because they have an airport hub attached.  They can be wheeled from room to room.  I love it because I can really incorporate project based learning, so I teach a class of 30 in grade 8 math.  For many of the projects (videos, wikis) the students worked either in small groups or partners.  I have incorporated them for blogging by teaching 1/2 the class while the other 1/2 blogs and then switching around.  I love the mobile cart. 
As an administrator, I also wheel carts into rooms and help teachers incorporate into their lessons.  I hardly ever do any teaching in a lab now because in that scenario, I can only sign up for one or two periods a week. 
We also bought a couple of digital cameras and a couple of digital video cameras.  They can easily be utilized with the cart.

Hope this helps!!
Laurie

On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 11:17 AM, robwall <rob...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Dave]

If we had 15 laptops, I would basically have one less computer lab
because we are limited to how many computers we can have in our
school. I think if we had that many laptops, I would put them in
specific teachers hands, that is, who would make good use of them in
the classroom. These teachers could then demonstrate to others how
they use them. If these teachers can get the kids "buzzing" about the
work they are doing, other teachers will notice and ask the 'ol, "what
are you doing in there?"

Dave