The 1-to-1 Initiative An Issue and A Verdict

Victoria Sun
Staff Writer

On September 8, 2009, the Lower Merion School District celebrated the first anniversary of its one-to-one computer-based learning initiative, providing every student with a laptop computer for the school year. Some students, however, have noticed a drastic shift in teachers’ policies of laptop use during class this year. Sophomore Stephanie Herrmann says, “This year, we aren’t doing as much work on [the laptops] in school or out of school. …A lot of the teachers aren’t letting us use them in class to take notes anymore.” And for the majority of classes, this seems to be true.

The Issue
According to several teachers, students were substantially less focused on their schoolwork; some noticed declines in students’ grades, while others noted the lack of participation in classroom discussions. The debate at the very heart of this issue, however, isn’t simply the extent to which teachers can limit their students; instead, it plunges deep into the question of when students should be permitted to make their own decisions – it is a question of personal choice vs. beneficent force.
After talking to both teachers and students, there seems to be a recurring theme: Overall, high school students aren’t yet capable of deciding when – and how – they should use their laptops during class. “From what I’ve seen, most kids aren’t at that maturity level, yet,” said one of the science teachers. Another added, “you really have to be clear in class about when and how you say ‘you may use them now’ or ‘you may not use them now.’” According to those interviewed, the general consensus is that the Internet simply offers too many distractions. With the many websites designed specifically for easy access to games, the various messaging systems students use to communicate, and the ever-present lure of sites (such as FML), it seems that the average high school student just can not handle the possibilities. Last year, when teachers were still adjusting to students having laptops during class, many allowed the use of laptops to take notes. According to an English teacher, “I think that at the beginning of last year, I let students use laptops whenever they felt they needed to. As the year progressed… that privilege was taken away because I was seeing inappropriate use of the laptop… They haven’t learned to prioritize and time manage.”
But could it ever be worth the unmistakable consequences?
The Lower Merion School District was one of only twenty-one school districts to receive grants through Pennsylvania’s “Classrooms for the Future” initiative. The district raised over $720,000 just for the one-to-one learning, and parents pay nearly $100 annually for computer insurance. After all of this money was used to get LMSD students their laptops, why would the district and teachers not permit the use of laptops during class?
The benefits of taking notes on a laptop are numerous. If more students were allowed the use of their laptops during a lesson, teachers would save class time, since copying notes by hand is usually very slow. In addition, some students have difficulty studying from handwritten notes simply because their penmanship is so atrocious. “I find many students are better able to organize their thoughts on a computer,” explains a History teacher. Text-formatting capabilities in a word processor keeps users incredibly organized – as does keeping chronological files within a folder – and organized students lead to more effective studiers. “The laptop is good in every way because it’s an extra tool available to you,” agreed IB program senior Ben Vander. “It can be misused, however.”

The Verdict?
After interviewing various people, the final conclusion is that there seem to be two choices teachers face when deciding how to treat laptop use during class: either ban laptop use or let students decide for themselves.
Of the teachers who were interviewed, about half said that they never let their students use laptops for note taking. When asked for a reason, a science teacher explains, “I’ve found that most students become distracted because of access to messaging programs, or games, or email… it’s just too much of a distraction. It takes away from our discussions and questioning and learning…” To the teachers who choose this option, the trade-off for permitting laptop use simply doesn’t seem to be worth the benefits of disallowing laptop use; and they do recognize the benefits. Since class participation and attention is essential to their lessons, these teachers have decided that laptops distract their students. When teachers ban the use of laptops discussion levels during class have increased. However, the downside to this policy is a loss of all of the benefits of using the laptops. So the next option: let the student decide .
“Some teachers take the view that ‘I’m going to teach, and if my students choose not to learn by going online and playing games, then that’s their choice,’” explained student Ben Vander. High school is where teenagers are supposed to grow up and begin making decisions for themselves. How can they even begin to do as such, if they are never given the option?
The Lower Merion School District has given its students this incredible opportunity, but it should be up to the student how he or she uses it. By now, students should know which methods of schooling work best for their individual needs. If students begin to fail their classes as a result of succumbing during school to the draw of the distracting side of the Internet, let them. According to an English teacher, when she compared her students’ overall grades from two years ago to last year’s, there was a drastic decline.
Laptop usage can be approached on a grade-by-grade or student-by-student basis. When asked about upperclassmen, one particular English teacher said, “I think it has had genuine merit, over all, as a means of preparing them for college-level note taking and as an effort to examine their individual study process and maintain organization. But my freshmen don’t have the discipline necessary to do that.”
Teachers can also allow laptop use on a case-by case basis: either according to the student or according to the activity. Says a science teacher, “I’m fine with them having laptops out for any type of classroom activities… It’s basically on an honor system until I notice that there’s an issue.”
Similarly, some teachers choose to regulate the opportunities in which the laptops can be used. Says an English teacher, “I allow students to use their laptops when an activity necessitates their use, and I ask them to put them away while other kids are doing presentations or while we’re reading novels.” Even then, however, some kids don’t heed instructions, and they choose to wile away their time on gaming websites; an English teacher confided, “I must say at least twice a class period ‘stop playing a game.’”
There seems to be no clear-cut decision that the superintendant can make pertaining to a district-wide laptop policy; each choice that can be made has its own specific benefits and drawbacks. Until the school board finds a solution, teachers are on his or her own in deciding how to treat this unique one-to-one initiative.