Laptops replace textbook Essay

The sign reaction to this disbelief by m whatsoever an(prenominal) people is, What a ridiculous brain However, there ar many fundamental issues to subscribe to, alike live, ease of role (is the disc overy reckoner screen too hard on our eyes for extensive reading?), sustainment and repair (if scholarly persons carry them from phase to class, entrust they break?), but or so greatly, scholarly person breeding (what is the best focussing to athletic nourishmenter scholarly persons need?). In order to develop to a conclusion on the subject, on the whole of these issues must be explored.Cost maiden lets look at bell. Publishers place create a CD of their text editionbooks, and at a greatly trim down price be aro persona there is no fill for news report, printing and binding. However the costs merchant shipnister be spread to the purchasers in separate ways. The teach for the engineering to use the CDs is the largest expense. However, most soils dec ease money on engineering science already, and with the purchase of a laptop computer for severally student, the involve for estimator science laboratorys should eventually give way minimal or obsolete as laptops be purchased.This should be considered when looking at costs of purchasing laptops and text CDs. different side effect of giving, renting or requiring student purchase of laptops is that other computer functions like word processing and PowerPoint should be included with the initial purchase, and all students volition cod similar big businessman to regain programs to bed homework assignments. Reading a computer screen posterior be difficult for long expanses of text, so I think that the cost of printing save by the publishers lead be passed on to the owner of the printer to which student computers are connected, though the cost get out be considerably little than binding a textbook. nearly students whitethorn non be organized in keeping pages in orde r, or throw away the chapters afterward(prenominal) they are finished, so if students want to tie in to the book in the future, they whitethorn envision a need to reprint split of the book.Paper will inevitably be worn. The actual cost difference may be hard to discern, but it is belike that a laptop with digital text combination, in the end, will be much than expensive. The question is, what are the priorities of the develop regulate? Should school districts sacrifice student information in the interest of a cost savings? Some computer companies hold out particular(a) programs,or quantity discounts. Some districts may require parents to purchase laptops. Henrico County universe Schools in ia, offers insurance on laptops, which the school system owns, to parents for $50.Tracy Unified School order in California at their subscribe school, Disco genuinely Charter School, has implemented a laptop program, and tackd their textbooks with laptops for 20% to a greater ex tent than the cost of textbooks. They expect the costs to decrease because, in the future, they will that need to supersede laptops that are broken, and purchase brisk discs for their textbooks respite of useNext, consider ease of use. If a school quarter hook up a wireless network, students should be subject to access online sources from most places in the school, including materialize out hall. Teachers should no daylong hear that students could non get into the library or lab to complete assignments, and students will be impoverished to explore the ability of the technology to a greater extent completely.In fact, enlighteners may find themselves ever-changing their method of teaching to best put on the technology. Schools that implement a laptop program should employ technology people to teach students and teachers how to use them, to maintain the machines, as hearty as keep networks in order. This is very important to help minimize foiling on the part of students a nd teachers. It is very foreclose to stir a lesson planned and non be able to go earlier because liaisons out of your control are not working properly. scholarly person learningStudent learning is the most important thing to consider when deciding teaching methods. laptop computers countenance for more interactivity with subjects by employ multimedia system methods. Publishers Holt, Rinehart and Winston show concepts like photosynthesis victimisation animation which conjures printed words on the subject. Students can likewise reach WebQuests and other simulations much(prenominal) as frog dissections on the net profit. Students can create projects victimization PowerPoint and many other programs to illustrate what they look at learned. All these things project a constructivist atmosphere which has been shown to enhance learning.Pros and consA computable way to analyze the question is to create a list of pros and cons on the subject. In the category of prosThe ability to put back outdated and incorrect information cursorily and inexpensively.Computer literacy, which can be important in the job world, becomes second temperament to students who have constant access to a computer.Interactivity is enhanced with laptops and a constructivist atmosphere is fostered. give of laptops allow a student guide atmosphere by instituting a more project-based method of learning, also promoting a constructivist atmosphere.Concepts are easier to grasp when presented in a multimedia way.A laptop for each student builds a bridge across the digital divide.Giving students an expensive piece of equipment encourages indebtedness for the equipment.Many students and teachers who have been part of laptop programs in schools report increased governance capability.Students can hatful places with teachers, offering new information that was not known to the teacher or class, fostering a moxie of pride and self-esteem.Some texts offer students the ability to highlight and annotate while studying.Teachers in laptop schools report that students create longer and more well written assignments because they need not use imagery books to provespelling and grammar mistakes. Students report that they learn almost writing styles better because of the instantaneous corrections.If the district uses digital texts, students will not need to carry huge and heavy textbooks from class to class. Backpacks will be lighter and vilify to spines will be less likely. Students also may need to spend less time in their lockers. The cons are not as numerous, but contain more weighty itemsThe possibility of theft (will the laptops submit students a target?)Breakage and victuals are expensive and can cause students to lose time on projects.The laptops themselves are expensive, although some vendors offer huge discounts to schools and for quantities purchased. at that place is a need to have a good connection to the Internet, preferably a wireless one.The teachers must b e on board, or they will not practice the laptops and the resource will be wasted (and the money spent will be wasted).Plagiarism is a greater come-on with easier access to the Internet.Students may become disconcert and get off task more easily.Technology failure, of all types.In fact, on a survey given to teachers at Piscataquis Community High School in Maine on their One-to-One Laptop Program, there were only three main complaints after two years of involvement in the program 1) Laptops ca employ distractions, 2) inappropriate use of the computers, and 3) technology failure.One perspective to consider is that when school districts buy textbooks, students have a few activities they can accomplish employ them. They can read and study to learn. They may find practice quizzes and further resources in textbooks but they must take the initiatory to go to the library, or search for information, and descriptor their quizzes.The functions of a textbook are few, though important. Whe n a school districts buys a laptop and digital information for a student, the student finds him/herself able to not only read and study to learn, but able to to the full synthesize the information with interactive quizzes, and relate for further information, as well as an ability to produce a paper or other end product. Students will not need to have a computer at home, or shout a public library or computer lab to complete their assignments.As well, all students will be using the same programs. The most useful places to find information about laptop programs is from schools that have implemented them for three years or more, so the Hawthorne affect has diminished, since most of them have been in the news, studied or scrutinized in some way. Also by then, the innovation of using new technology, which can extol students to study more, has worn off. In Maine, standardise test dozens for eighth punctuaters have been only slightly elevated or the same over non-laptop schools.In a n expression by Andrew Speyer called Technology in Schools wherefore Laptops?, Mr. Speyer states that A laptop in a classroom will not turn up in students having higher SAT scores. It will not guarantee that students will have higher grades, better attention, or learn the daily material more completely. . . concur will shift from a teacher-based obtain to a collaborative experience. If there is any single argument for the use of laptops in a classroom this would be it. sluice with no significant improvement in scores, laptops are facilitate worth having because they support constructivist methods, which has been shown to improve learning.In fact, the question that arises in the newest literature is not Should schools use laptop computers?, but Can hand helds replace laptops?ConclusionLaptops can not only replace textbooks, but can enhance student learning overall. Using computers on a consistent basis can move a classroom toward a more collaborative method of learning. With l aptops students would be able to have access to the Internet for research, word processing, and PowerPoint programs anytime, even in study hall.If a school district can take the money they would normally spend on textbooks and add some of their technology money, they may be able to discover a close of providing a laptop computer for each student over time. Even if standardized test scores remain the same, there are still advantages to having a laptop for each student. perpetual Ed students write longer, more complete assignments, possibly due to ease the of using word processing and better resource searching ability. Buying laptops and digital textbooks may be a huge blackguard to take, but a district may be able to work their way into them slowly by introducing laptops a grade level at a time, or in various other ways. If the goal of the district is to maximize student learning, private laptops may be a good way to do it. Laptop learning supports constructivist activities, which have been shown to improve learning.Activities which students have a say in choosing for themselves, and choosing their own methods to complete, allow them to become more enthusiastic and snarly with their learning. They can become more like partners in their own learning, rather than pretty inactive absorbers. With a laptop a complete project can be accomplished, but with a textbook, only half(a) of a project can be accomplished.AUTHOR Alisa HumphreyReferencesCurtis, D. (2003, December 16). The Maine Event. Edutopia Online. Retrieved October 10, 2004 from http//www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_1119. Chapman, G. (1998, June 15). Push to trade class textbooks for laptop PCs is a vitiate of technology. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2004 from http//www.utexas.edu/lbj/21cp/laptops.htm. Cook, G. (2002, July). Laptop Learning. ASJB.com. 189 (7). Retrieved October 9, 2004 from http//www.asbj.com/2002/07/0702coverstory.html. Harris, Walter J. & Smith, Lori. (Februa ry 2004). Laptop use by seventh grade students with disabilities Perceptions of special education teachers. Maine EducationP