Comments on: Wireless Laptops – our next step. http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/ Space for me to explore my ideas and experiences of ICT in my classroom. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:18:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: ICT in my Classroom » Laptop project update http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/comment-page-1/#comment-1699 ICT in my Classroom » Laptop project update Sun, 13 May 2007 20:24:34 +0000 http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/#comment-1699 [...] Back in December I posted about my thoughts on investing in a pool of laptops for classes at school. Well it has been nearly 5 months since those initial thoughts and since then I have managed to pin down the make and series of machine we want and I have a much clearer understanding for the sort of resource we want. [...] [...] Back in December I posted about my thoughts on investing in a pool of laptops for classes at school. Well it has been nearly 5 months since those initial thoughts and since then I have managed to pin down the make and series of machine we want and I have a much clearer understanding for the sort of resource we want. [...]

]]> By: ICT in my Classroom » The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/comment-page-1/#comment-789 ICT in my Classroom » The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:14:25 +0000 http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/#comment-789 [...] > Laptops with a strong wireless connection available in the classroom full time would also be ideal. This would help facilitate and make regular the process of writing. Hopefully we are to have some soon, so I will see how they go. [...] [...] > Laptops with a strong wireless connection available in the classroom full time would also be ideal. This would help facilitate and make regular the process of writing. Hopefully we are to have some soon, so I will see how they go. [...]

]]> By: Lucy Gray http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/comment-page-1/#comment-586 Lucy Gray Sun, 31 Dec 2006 16:00:23 +0000 http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2006/12/30/wireless-laptops-our-next-step/#comment-586 Hi Tom - Thanks for the ITM comment! As you might already know, I have a strong bias towards Macs, so that would be my recommendation. I think you get more bang for your buck with these machines. You don't need a lot of extra software and they are easier to maintain. At my school, we've had laptop carts available to teachers (they had to check them out and were shared) and we've seen mixed results. There's been a fair amount of demand for them, but they don't particular lend themselves to spontaneity in terms of teachable moments. Some teachers also seemed to have problems with troubleshooting the carts, too. This year, we have moved toward dedicated carts in classrooms and we'll see how that goes. Our 7th and 8th grade classes have carts and about 4 kids are sharing 1 computer for the entire school year. We've been looking at going to a 1 to 1 model at some point, so this seems like a logical precursor and almost inevitable in this day and age. All of our teachers have laptops which really helps, too. Funding is not particularly an issue for us, which makes these decision a bit easier. Hope this helps... Hi Tom -

Thanks for the ITM comment!

As you might already know, I have a strong bias towards Macs, so that would be my recommendation. I think you get more bang for your buck with these machines. You don’t need a lot of extra software and they are easier to maintain.

At my school, we’ve had laptop carts available to teachers (they had to check them out and were shared) and we’ve seen mixed results. There’s been a fair amount of demand for them, but they don’t particular lend themselves to spontaneity in terms of teachable moments. Some teachers also seemed to have problems with troubleshooting the carts, too. This year, we have moved toward dedicated carts in classrooms and we’ll see how that goes. Our 7th and 8th grade classes have carts and about 4 kids are sharing 1 computer for the entire school year. We’ve been looking at going to a 1 to 1 model at some point, so this seems like a logical precursor and almost inevitable in this day and age. All of our teachers have laptops which really helps, too. Funding is not particularly an issue for us, which makes these decision a bit easier.

Hope this helps…

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