1-to-1 sounds so cool and powerful and awesome, but is it really? I’m regularly in conversations with admins, teachers, parents, school leaders, community members, you name it, discussing technology and at some point in the conversation someone says, ‘We should just go 1-to-1’. It’s pretty much at that point that the rationale for going 1-to-1 becomes skewed and bastardized to a point that reduces any level of impact of 1-to-1 to almost nothing. When asked ‘Why go 1-to-1?’ people regularly respond with statements such as, ‘Kids need to be prepared for College and the real world’ or ‘it’s the 21st century’ or ‘that’s how kids are learning these days.’ It’s also at this point where I take a deep breath and walk away from the conversation.
We have observed epic 1-to-1 failures across the country because of misguided leaders with good intentions who are trying to support technology integration for future readiness. Simply providing every student with a standard device and 'letting it rip’ results in poor student outcomes and substantive results that support the financial investment. Legislators, superintendents, and board members vote for the 1-to-1 initiative because it’s en vogue and they want community support and the community thinks…'that’s awesome' etc…but in 3 years when the devices are antiquated and the achievement is the same, they look back and wonder why?
They really shouldn’t wonder 'why isn't student achievement higher?'…they should wonder 'why they did it in the first place?' Instructional technology integration is a complex endeavor that requires thoughtful planning, professional development, leadership and support. Simply handing a device to a child and making the naive statement of ‘he/she is a millennial of course they know how to use it…they can teach the teacher’ is irresponsible and we still do it. I’m sure there is research out there to support that instructional approach (sarcasm implied). So, you decide that you are going to give devices to the kids and then you hold a two-day 'tech it up’ pd to launch the year. Awesome idea…until November when the Ts have become frustrated b/c the kids are not using it appropriately or they decide it’s just easier to use their textbooks than find an equivalent online or an administrator comes in the classroom and gives them a low rating on an observation for not using tech well. Just like any weak pd plan, one that begins with a bang and has no on-going support dwindles until the next super cool thing comes along.
So, it’s no wonder that anti-digital activists and anti-public school folks who distrust the government for how spending is mismanaged are able to repeatedly point to the 1-to-1 failures across our country. It sounds ‘sexy', but in reality 'it’s good from afar, but far from good'. It has actually resulted in supporting anti-technology folks beliefs around technology and reinforces the comments of ‘I learned without technology and I can use a computer.’
Here’s the truth...the reality of instructional technology is that 1-to-1 is not enough…it’s not sufficient…it’s standardizing not personalizing. Kids need access, options, choices, and opportunities. If you go 1-to-1 with tablets, you’re mostly restrained to apps which will result in low-level substitution activities. If you go to 1-to-1 with laptops you miss out on great opportunities to have student created videos, embedded pictures, etc… I’ve even heard of school/districts going 1-to-1 with iPod touches…the limits of those decisions are hit very quickly as productivity and outcomes are minimized significantly.
We must continue to invest in technology in our schools because an investment in technology is an investment in our kids and our future! And we need to invest now! Eric Sheninger writes in Digital Leadership, “I see technology as a needed resource in education that can break down the walls of traditional school structures while creating new opportunities to learn” (Digital Leadership, p.45). However, we need thoughtfulness, we need balance, we need smart creative and innovative folks to think about the questions of ‘What do we need to do to leverage technology to improve student outcomes? Or how can we use technology to help us prepare our children to create jobs that haven’t been created?’ We need to ask the right questions to the right people before throwing out the phrase, “Let’s go 1-to-1!"
Check back in the future as to how I would do this!
We have observed epic 1-to-1 failures across the country because of misguided leaders with good intentions who are trying to support technology integration for future readiness. Simply providing every student with a standard device and 'letting it rip’ results in poor student outcomes and substantive results that support the financial investment. Legislators, superintendents, and board members vote for the 1-to-1 initiative because it’s en vogue and they want community support and the community thinks…'that’s awesome' etc…but in 3 years when the devices are antiquated and the achievement is the same, they look back and wonder why?
They really shouldn’t wonder 'why isn't student achievement higher?'…they should wonder 'why they did it in the first place?' Instructional technology integration is a complex endeavor that requires thoughtful planning, professional development, leadership and support. Simply handing a device to a child and making the naive statement of ‘he/she is a millennial of course they know how to use it…they can teach the teacher’ is irresponsible and we still do it. I’m sure there is research out there to support that instructional approach (sarcasm implied). So, you decide that you are going to give devices to the kids and then you hold a two-day 'tech it up’ pd to launch the year. Awesome idea…until November when the Ts have become frustrated b/c the kids are not using it appropriately or they decide it’s just easier to use their textbooks than find an equivalent online or an administrator comes in the classroom and gives them a low rating on an observation for not using tech well. Just like any weak pd plan, one that begins with a bang and has no on-going support dwindles until the next super cool thing comes along.
So, it’s no wonder that anti-digital activists and anti-public school folks who distrust the government for how spending is mismanaged are able to repeatedly point to the 1-to-1 failures across our country. It sounds ‘sexy', but in reality 'it’s good from afar, but far from good'. It has actually resulted in supporting anti-technology folks beliefs around technology and reinforces the comments of ‘I learned without technology and I can use a computer.’
Here’s the truth...the reality of instructional technology is that 1-to-1 is not enough…it’s not sufficient…it’s standardizing not personalizing. Kids need access, options, choices, and opportunities. If you go 1-to-1 with tablets, you’re mostly restrained to apps which will result in low-level substitution activities. If you go to 1-to-1 with laptops you miss out on great opportunities to have student created videos, embedded pictures, etc… I’ve even heard of school/districts going 1-to-1 with iPod touches…the limits of those decisions are hit very quickly as productivity and outcomes are minimized significantly.
We must continue to invest in technology in our schools because an investment in technology is an investment in our kids and our future! And we need to invest now! Eric Sheninger writes in Digital Leadership, “I see technology as a needed resource in education that can break down the walls of traditional school structures while creating new opportunities to learn” (Digital Leadership, p.45). However, we need thoughtfulness, we need balance, we need smart creative and innovative folks to think about the questions of ‘What do we need to do to leverage technology to improve student outcomes? Or how can we use technology to help us prepare our children to create jobs that haven’t been created?’ We need to ask the right questions to the right people before throwing out the phrase, “Let’s go 1-to-1!"
Check back in the future as to how I would do this!