Friday, February 5, 2010

1:1 Learning - Laptop Programs That Work


I mentioned one of the best resources we have on 1:1 computing is a book in our professional library by Pamela Livingston. Pamela Livingston, who has served in many technology roles both in schools and the private sector, was the technology coordinator of the Peck School in Morristown, NJ, one of the first school districts to roll out a 1:1 initiative.

Livingston puts together not only her experience, but also the existing research and experiences of other pioneering schools, and statewide initiatives. I'll highlight some of my favorite sections of the book in some upcoming posts.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK
Section 1 gives a narrative of the process Peck used to roll it out, from idea, to common vision, to logistics and budgeting, to implementation, and then to evaluation. She also compares it to the work in San Francisco's Urban school, St. Louis' Whitfield school, Denver School of Science and Technology, Henrico County (VA)'s initiative, and the statewide middle school initiative in Maine.

Section 2 gives more details on the aspects of leadership. Specifically, it shows what worked and what did not with planning, professional development, and implementation logistics.

And section 3 delves into the teaching pedagogical differences that ubiquitous computing affords a school. Livingston does a nice job of touching on the differences in learning theory and some important aspects to remember about use of web 2.0 tools. She also provides a model lesson and classroom management advice.

Finally, there are excellent resources in the appendices, including Peck's sample policies, a collection of FAQs from students, current research and resources, as well as a scenario-starter for how you would implement different technologies into language arts, math, science, and social studies classes.

By the way, Livingston also guest blogs on the 1:1 blog run by CASTLE.

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