Version vom 18. Mai 2009, 08:40 Uhr

Thomas Kraus, Thomas Zehe

Thursday, 07.05.2009

Questions on the working with a laptop at school:

1. No, because:

• they are too slow for learning with them in the lesson
• they need too much time for working
• the display is too small
• without a normal mouse it is very annoying
• the pupils can use them for their own interests also in the lesson
• it is not good for the eyes, to look the whole day on a screen
• the electromagnetic pollution of the laptops is very bad for your health

2. In subjects:

• where you have to write essays or other articles (e.g. German)
• where you have to find information in the web (e.g. for a presentation)
• where you need special programs like “GeoGebra”

3.1 Pro: You can learn faster, because…

• you can find the most information very fast
• you can write faster with the keyboard than by hand

3.2 Con: You can´t learn so effectively, because…

• you can get distracted very easily by games, etc.
• not all, that is in the web is right, but you trust it anyway

4. look at answer 3.2

Are 100 Dollar per laptop too expensive?

1. Yes, because...

• in many countries 100 dollar is more than one monthly salary (e.g. in India)
• the price will increase in the next few years
• it is too expensive for the emerging markets
• if the governments don't support the people to finance the laptops, they won't be able to handle the costs

2. No, because it is a "long form factor", that means that you must only pay for it one time, not like for books. If the project runs, it will save a lot of money through the next few years.

Pro and Contra

Pro

• creates education opportunities.

• helps to learn, to explore, to create a better future.

• communication with others.

• focus on early education.

• no one gets left out.

• use it for essays (easier to read than handwritings of some pupils) and other homework.

• graphs can be drawn very easily ==> easier to imagine their look as just with a few points.

• searching the internet is faster and easier than looking up in books and libraries.

Contra

Contra:

• children could easily depend on the internet or the laptops
• they can't really concentrate because they can surf on other pages while they are working in the internet
• they only communicate with their friends via the internet
• There are also costs for internet-connections e.g. in Africa one month costs $200.
• Many of the laptops cost more than $100.
• The prices will grow higher and higher from time to time.
• The people need support from the government because they are too poor to buy the laptops themselves.
• A great problem could be the high electricity bill for the school and the pupils could do other things like internet games or something like that. Also the teachers must be trained in using laptops and solving technical problems.
• pupils use it to exchange answers in tests
• pupils download pornography
• hack into local business or school administration
• found way around network-security and put how-to into the web
• pc´s break down
• servers break down very often
• pupils don´t ask teachers for help, try to help themselves by using the internet ==> breaking down of system/server/etc due to overload
• PC isn´t helpful in educating students (no effects on test scores)
• don´t fit into lesson plans
• logistical, technical problems (e.g. should every pupil get a laptop or just those who come from deprived families?)
• teachers have to know how to use laptops ==> have to be trained ==> costs for seminars
• most of the pupils never used their laptop for learning