As I mentioned in my previous post, Dan Maas - the CIO of Littleton Public Schools - has a blog. His latest post is about some initial research around Maine's 1:1 Laptop Initiative which shows that student writing is improving.
While that's worth blogging about in and of itself, what interests me most is the 29 comments (so far), mostly by ninth graders at my school. This was not an assignment, nor were they asked to comment, but their teacher did point the post out to them. The 29th comment is from one of our school board members, who asks for additional input from students, specifically from those that are not in a classroom with regular access to laptops.
I left a comment with a link to some discussions students had last year around this issue, but we have quite a few more students with access to laptops this year - as well as the majority who do not. So, AHS students, this is your chance. Whether you are in any classes that use laptops or not, and whether you think laptops are a good idea or a bad idea (or a little of both), please visit his blog and leave a thoughtful, constructive comment (please remember to use first name and last initial only for your name). This is a chance to have your voice heard, please make it worthwhile, and do your best to make sure it's not the last.
Thank you, and your district administration for taking note of the Maine report. I was introduced to your "Did You Know" presentation this fall at a Maine DOE meeting about expanding the laptop program to high school teachers. This week I distributed 100 MacBooks to my high school staff, showing them the video in the process.
ReplyDeleteI am just getting up to speed on your work (and the vast amount of knowledge one can link to from it. There often seems to be too few hours in a day).
Thank you again for all you do for the students of the United States.
Peter Mullen
Gray, Maine
The power of voice...through text, that is! I am impressed, not only that your CIO has a blog (which is nicely done, in and of itself) but that the students have a voice. Very few districts in our country have an open means of communication, much less a direct link to the CIO. These students were not doing an assignment...they were having a conversation about a topic that they were passionate about. The students have clearly benefited not just from the technology they have been given, but from the teaching and modeling that has taken place in your district from you, the teachers, and all the way up to the top. We can have all of the technology in place, but without role models for its use, then we have nothing. With your guidance, you have modeled given your students the power of voice! Thanks for the inspiration!
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