Laptops - A Bad Idea?

Over on our Learning and Laptops blog, one of our students has suggested that perhaps laptops are not the best idea for our classrooms - at least in some situations. Take a look at Will H.'s thoughtful comments on this post, including:

Even if laptops allow students to develop better ideas, students still need to develop these ideas by themselves. Learning to formulate ideas is a stepped process that occurs at all times through a student's career, however, if too much information is available at this crucial stage of learning to think the students ability to not only create ideas but also to support them may be impaired. My argument is not that laptops in class will ruin this independent thought construction, it is that if introduced too early, internet in the classroom could impair if not destroy the potential of this learning stage.

While I have a different view than Will on most of these issues, he raises some important points we need to consider as we attempt to use technology in the classroom. So head over to the post, read through the comments, and add your comment to the conversation.

Tags:

• laptops
• olpc
• education_change