Technical Management of Devices
Laptop Integration with students in the classroom
To assist in the long life of the laptop or device technology, here are some helpful hints:
Students use two hands to open the lid on all laptops
Students use two hands when carrying laptops from the cart to their desk
Students put the laptop into the cart right hand first (this puts the power plugin on the outsides)
Students can be assigned as monitors to ensure that everything is put away properly so that charging works and they are in the correct slots.
Make sure students have clean hands; however, this does not require washing every students hands every time they touch a laptop.
When devices are shared between several classes, create ‘family owners’ of the device. Each student that uses device #1 is a member of that family. When something goes wrong with device 1, a family meeting can occur.
I do want to stress that laptops and iPads are not that expensive. We are better to value learning and the students over the devices. Even if a $1000 laptop gets destroyed in a year, that is only $100 per month, that is only $5 per teaching day, that is only $1 per teaching hour. For a student to feel empowered, trusted, trustworthy isn’t it worth $1 an hour?
When 1 to 1 may be appropriate
While I am a proponent of shared learning by sharing laptops, I recognize there are times that you may want every student to be active with their own laptop. Scenarios where this might be the case:
Writing a personal letter or project such as Mother’s day project,
Where the output task is the learning
If you only have 1/2 class set, you can still make 15 devices act like 30
Have 1/2 class get the laptops and start with the activity requiring individual effort. (Number 1’s get the laptops and do 10 minutes of downloading photos for a project while the rest of us finish our silent reading)
Have 1/2 class get ready for the next assignment while the others finish up. (Number 2’s take the last 10 minutes before lunch while we clean up from Art)
Set up Centers activities. As students complete other activities, they can get a laptop and complete a task. When they have all 10 tasks complete, they put the laptop back for the next student do their tasks.
Book the laptops for twice the expected time required. Have 1/2 group complete the task at a time.