Do netbooks shortchange students or make technology more accessible? Two ed-tech executives offer differing opinions
Primary Topic Channel: Computers
 |
|
|
|
Netbooks--the small, scaled-down notebook computers that have proven to be popular with consumers and schools alike--have taken the computer market by storm in the past year.
During a time of steep budget cuts, many school leaders have turned to netbooks as a less expensive way to get computers into the hands of every student. But not everyone agrees that netbooks, with their smaller screens and processing power, are an ideal solution for education.
Here are two very different perspectives on the issue, published as competing Viewpoints in the October print issue of eSchool News.
What do you think? Let your colleagues know; share your thoughts in the comments section.
--The Editors
Low cost or learning tool?
Netbooks are all the rage, but they don't really meet the needs of today's students
By Jon Bower
More than just a fad
Not every student needs a high-end computer--and netbooks can help bridge the access gap
By Bob Moore
Comment now.
Don't forget to check out our Online highlights:
- Discover new resources that help school leaders strengthen their school district inside our new Superintendents Center.
Go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/superintendents-center/
- View this week's Student Video News Cast at www.eschoolnews.tv where you can also upload video too!
- Follow eSchool News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eschoolnews
- Add our RSS feeds or our new widgets to any school web site. Go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/content-exchange-rss/
- Find the latest news in the current issue of eSchool News. Go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/current/
Netbooks...the answer
Both the weight and battery life of the ACER laptop eliminated it from consideration in my district. I went with the ASUS netbook because of both the weight and battery life. When used in a cart setup, they are always available ANY period of the day with a charge that will take them through multiple periods of use. No other "laptop" on the market can do that today. One of the major complaints from my teachers was that if someone used “the cart” early in the day, many times the laptops would run out of power during use later in the school day. Issue resolved. J. Moe
Posted By: jmoe892, 2009-10-13 3:43 PM
Netbooks are the answer if you have the right one
Not sure if I will have enough room to provide a response and comment. Here in Alvarado ISD we have every child in 4th , 5th and 6th grade with the HP mini note. I want to first address the 2 issues that seem negative. One being “Yet, what is the fundamental limitation of netbooks? It is hard to type on them! Why would we ever want to train our children to type on an inadequate” Now lets look at that.. what child already does not text on a device that is smaller then a mouse and at a speed and accuracy that is unbelievable now adays. Also with some products the limitation is there with a small keyboard and odd key placement however your with the HP as well as on some others.. the keyboard is about 93% to that of a normal keyboard. To me non issue all around, we have to learn that like the classrooms of yesterday things change kids are not like kids years ago they adapt we have to as well with the technology. The next issue that was pointed out I also think is a non issue. That being the statement of “It's video--the most power-hungry medium of all. Does it make sense to give our children a hardware platform that doesn't create or play video well? Of course not, yet that is what we do with netbooks “.Now do you put a netbook in the hands of a student doing AutoCad or final cut pro, no not at all. Digital media plays an important role in Alvarado ISD from streaming video to video creation. One example alone with only a HP 2133 ( first generation) I was able to live stream video conference back to students in my district from the mall in Washington DC seamless. The devices can handle the video. The questions to ask when looking at a netbook is what are you wanting to do and with who. Lets remember these are only tools to help our students learn and succeed they are not going to replace our teachers of today Will I put netbooks in the hands of my high school kids? Probably not , I will move on to a tablet or what today is a traditional notebook. But in the hands of elem and middle school no doubt I will and did and would do it again. In short the netbooks of today help bridge that gap in education at a price that a lot of us are starting to be able to afford. If you sit back and ignore the possibilities you are ignoring the potential that these students have inside waiting to be unleashed. Do I care if my teacher is short or tall, skinny or fat? No they still deleiver information and teach me. Does size really matter when before there was nothing but now there is something?
Posted By: kyleberger, 2009-10-08 5:59 PM
Give them an iPod Touch
The future is in our pockets. Every kid should have access to high end equipment at school but have an iPod touch or iPhone in their pocket. With 80000+ applications now available they can actually do more than a netbook. I have a netbook but by the time I configured it to be useful I was into it over $500. and it still couldn't do the stuff I found really useful.
Posted By: bradleyc, 2009-10-08 1:24 PM
 |
You need to be registered at eSchoolnews.com to add your comments. If you do not have a username / password please register here ! Registration is very simple and will not take much time! |
Not Sure About Argument
I am not sure about the argument either way. Our middle school received netbooks this year, and I think the jury is still out. What I take issue with is that the argument presented by Berger may be received by educators more positively if he were able to articulate it without grammar and spelling errors. If we expect our students to be held to the standard of presenting their arguments in a logical and grammatically correct fashion, shouldn't our administrators be held to such a standard if they wish to be taken seriously?
Posted By: tbradshaw, 2009-10-13 4:31 PM