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New Hampshire to Follow Maine's Lead

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the laptops-for-the-masses dept.

Timex writes "According to an article from the Portland [Maine] Press Herald, some seventh-graders in New Hampshire will be issued laptops in January. 19 school districts have been invited to submit proposals, and up to five of them will be chosen to lead the way in New Hampshire. Cabletron Systems co-founder and NH Governor Craig Benson is getting funding for the four-year project from corporate donations. So far, he's gathered about half of the estimated $1.2 million estimated cost."

14 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Would be good if... by Blaine+Hilton · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The teachers knew how to use them, and the system admins know more about securing them then the kids that are using them.

  2. Re:Better be Macs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If they don't choose Macs, they aren't following Maine's lead, they are moving in another direction entirely.

    Namely, backwards.

  3. Kid's and laptops. by Hayzeus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I dunno. I can't see issuing my middle schooler a laptop. Not because I have any particular problem with their use in education, but because the kid has a tendency to drop stuff (and lose stuff). Seems to be endemic to the age group.

    --

    Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
    1. Re:Kid's and laptops. by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 5, Informative

      IAACGWAL ( I am a college guy with a laptop ) and I can honestly say those things are nearly useless during class. They require boot time, which is wasted time. They also require juice considering they don't run on air and a random day at college lasts 8 hours for me. I haven't heard of ANY laptop with an 8 hours battery life and the idea of 30 people rushing for the nearest electrical outlet every 2 hours is plain silly. Also, laptops aren't very versatile for writing down stuff in a hurry. The programs given are very limited and using them can feel very unnatural at times. That whole issue might be solved by those tablet PCs with the pen thingy, which is far more suitable for jotting down notes and what not.

      For college, nothing rocks more then a good pen and a good notepad with pre-perforated and lined paper. Though laptops would still rock, especially with WLANs. UT2k3 during dutch classes, anyone?

      --
      Hate me!
    2. Re:Kid's and laptops. by BWJones · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They require boot time, which is wasted time

      So, get an iBook. They are cheap and when you wake them from sleep, they are on almost instantly. No waiting.

      They also require juice considering they don't run on air and a random day at college lasts 8 hours for me.

      My 800 Mhz iBook ran for about 5 hours of constant use which is more than plenty for a day at school considering that you are not constantly using the laptop during your school day. If you were, you had access to a power outlet. Currently, I use an 12in Powerbook that has less battery life, but since I am not in classes anymore, I prefer it and the extra features.

      Also, laptops aren't very versatile for writing down stuff in a hurry.

      I can type much faster that I can write as can many, many others who generally prefer taking notes with a keyboard.

      The programs given are very limited and using them can feel very unnatural at times.

      I find a simple text edit program the easiest and fastest way to input notes.

      That whole issue might be solved by those tablet PCs with the pen thingy, which is far more suitable for jotting down notes and what not.

      I agree with you here. I have owned an Apple Newton 120 (they still rock!) and I have used some of the new Microsoft tablets, and by far, the Newton had better usability, although they are showing their age now by lacking modern I/O and networking. The Newton however was not quite ideal for notetaking. If you plugged in the additional keyboard they were O.K., but it needed a little more integration with the pen and keyboard. The current Wintel tablets are simply tablet versions of dekstop metaphors and simply, don't work very well. More R&D needed to go into interface design. I don't know if Apple will ever produce another tablet/subtablet type device, but it would certainly be welcome in many circles.

      --
      Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
  4. REAL computer curriculums needed BEFORE computers! by blueworm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I help support the laptops here in Maine and the program is a complete joke. Schools don't do much more than post information on the Apple run FirstClass mail server and have students use search engines with the things.

    Now if a REAL computer curriculum were to be developed around the Unix aspects of Mac OS X that would be something, but integration with the classroom itself isn't going to happen. I don't know how it could really without losing the attention of students who resort to web browsing during dull (and meaningless) lectures.

    High School/Public School education is a joke in the U.S. Student's don't even know algebra by the time they graduate with A's in math.

  5. Waste of money by Ignorant+Aardvark · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a waste of money. Laptops aren't the answer to better student performance, as anyone who's been through college recently can attest. Laptops simply add more distractions - games, instant messager, PORN ... and aren't really more efficient than old fashioned pen and paper. That $1.2 million should be spent on something that really matters ... like new textbooks?

    --
    Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
  6. $1.2 million ... by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Could buy an awful lot of textbooks.

    --

    How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
  7. It just works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I am a teacher in Maine and I have to say that the program in Maine works. It received some criticism early on but now the program is in full force and it works. You can trash Apple as much as like but the bottom line is this. Imagine training the number of teachers necessary and then handing out laptops to very enterprising middle schoolers. Also imagine the headaches that could arise when all these middle schoolers get their computers infested with Windows worms and viruses and then expecting the teachers to fix the problems. It is a disaster in the making. The bottom line with using Apple laptops is that they are simple to use and maintain with a big emphasis on maintain. You can quote all those crappy TOC studies you want about Windows vs Apple but again, the burden on day-to-day maintenance is on the teachers themselves! I hope this is clear to all the Windows pundits. For what the state of Maine needed these computers, Apple simply worked better. I wish my neighbors in NH the best of luck in setting up their program. I hope they will take what we have learned thus far in Maine and get their program off to a good start.

  8. Re:REAL computer curriculums needed BEFORE compute by NiKnight3 · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm not sure where you are in the state, but please don't generalize and say that the laptop program isn't working throughout the state.

    I live near Bangor, Maine, and I did a college photojournalism project at my middle school to see how the laptops were working. Not only did the students seem more engaged in their learning, but they used them for almost everything: they wrote journal entries, found clipart for multimedia presentations, and then researched information for a speech. And that was all during one class. Students in social studies the next period spent time researching current headlines on msnbc.com and informed the teacher of the latest development of the war in Iraq (I visited this spring). That's right, they were telling her the latest news. What better way to engage students in education than by letting them be the teachers? Every study I've ever seen has said that two-way learning is much more effective than reading from a textbook or listening to lecture.

    While some districts in the state may be less excited about the program, its important to note that the laptop program in Maine is still supported and still working. While expensive, this program introduces students to technology at a fairly early age. It's very possible that Maine students will be much more tech-savvy once they leave their middle and high schools.

  9. How's that for a turn? by devphaeton · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the late 1980s i got busted in the 7th grade using my C= Plus/4 to do my algebra and geometry homework with. I was removed from both classes and had to make them up the following year.

    My principal's famous last words:

    "You need to learn to do this without a computer. When you grow up and get a job, is your computer going to be there to do your work for you then?"

    heh

    --


    do() || do_not(); // try();
  10. Oversold and Underused? by pbooktebo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    As a teacher who used a mac in teaching music, I think that they are amazing tools when used in moderation. I do support the use of computers in classrooms, but it is also true that the only technology that really revolutionized education is the blackboard. In the past 100 years, grandiose claims were made for record albums, film strips, movies, TV in classes, etc. Often, the claim has been that teachers will become obsolete.

    Larry Cuban, a professor of education at Stanford, has written a book on the subject, "Computers in the classroom: oversold and underused," which is available in .pdf form here:

    http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/CUBOVE.pdf

  11. Start sand bagging by Dodava · · Score: 4, Funny
    School districts picked to apply in New Hampshire are in towns with high property tax rates and whose sixth-graders did poorly on the state assessment test, he said.

    Attention all sixth-graders everywhere: If your parents pay a lot of property taxes, make sure you do poorly on your tests. Maybe next year you'll be rewarded with a laptop!

  12. Reactionary Geek Alert! by tomem · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good grief, people! I can't believe I'm reading this reaction here at Slashdot. You all seem to think that your kids should have to earn the right to use one like you did! What's with that? Today a computer is not a computer at all, but rather a communicator. Only a subset of kids will have an interest in the inner workings of a communicator, but everyone has an interest in communicating with others and being able to use the resources on the net.

    This has nothing to do with teaching kids how to use a keyboard and mouse, or about binary and hexadecimal data storage. It has everything to do with empowering them to use the intellectual tools of the trades in our society. And one laptop contains every textbook you or your kids will ever need, and always in the most up to date version. The entire MIT undergrad curriculum and much of the grad curriculum is now online, along with most of world literature. Do you think this is mistake that will soon be corrected with a back-to-basics movement? Give me a break! This is the vehicle through which our kids will progress at their own pace, rather than being held to the average abilities in whatever class to which they may be assigned.

    Give a human a fish and you feed them for a day. Give a human a fishing rod, and teach them how to use it, and you give them the means to feed others as well as themselves.

    --
    ThosEM