This email recently came from John Pederson on the wetech listserv (Wisconsin technology coordinators). Think about the data he presents and what it means for schools.
"Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, recently presented the keynote at our WiscNet Future Technologies Conference. In short, these folks do a ton of data collection about educational technology use in schools.
Julie presented two bits in particular that caught my eye.
1. When Wisconsin students were asked to describe their own level of proficiency with technology, only 21% self identified as being "advanced" in their technology use. I think we as adults often over estimate the abilities and attitudes regarding students and technology.
2. 28% of students Grades 3-5, 45% of students Grades 6-8, and 58% of students Grades 9-12 have their own laptop computers in Wisconsin. Chew on that a bit and consider what it tells you about how you should be thinking about your infrastructure over the next 5-10 years. Will you allow them? Should you provide them? Will this number increase as the costs drop or decrease as the number of mobile devices increases? What does this mean for your network? What are their parents expectations? Is it fair? Does being fair matter?"
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John Pederson
Educational Technology Liasion - WiscNet
johnpederson@wiscnet.net
http://wire.wiscnet.net
9 years ago
Are these personal laptops from home, school, or both? If mostly home, it really amazes me that there are that many parents getting their children personal laptops at the 3rd-5th grade levels. It seems to be that before high school, there's really no reason for an individual computer. And, depending upon the family size and usage, maybe not even then. A shared computer when kids are young, would go a long way toward parents being present to monitor use, while teaching safe use of the internet.
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