In response to the article March of the Laptops, Robert Shepard discusses the growth of computer demand in the classroom.  The demand is not merely the standard desktop model, but rather laptops for students.  Many schools in Canada are providing laptops for students to use in the classroom.  This movement is causing many discussions about the necessity of laptop computers in the classroom.

Why not have laptops in the classroom?   I believe that computer technology is essential for students if we want to teach them critical skills needed to compete in the world today.  Shepard states, “It’s first nature to them. They are not coming from pen and paper to computers.”  He is right.  Today’s youth have grown up with computers and they should have the opportunity to practice their skills in school and at home.  I think that by utilizing laptop computers, students have the opportunity to have direct instruction as well as computer instruction.  They have the best of both worlds.  Laptops are a wonderful enhancement tool for lessons already being taught in the classroom.  I think that if we use the computers as an extension of the current curriculum, we can add enhancement opportunities.  The computer work should support what is already being taught.  Some might argue, that we already have desktop computers in the classrooms, why laptops?  I must reply to that with, Why not laptops?  I feel that as we progress as a technology driven world, our educational institutions should progress as well. 

The argument is not a rhetorical one.  Charles Casement, author of The Child and the Machine: Why Computers May Put our Children’s Education at Risk, asks Shepard the question, “Why do classrooms have to mirror completely everything that goes on outside of them?”  While Shepard did not answer the question, I feel that the answer is clear.  Our schools are expected to teach everything from A to Z, and I feel that if laptop computers can attract the attention of our students, then we need one for every child.  We would not ask teachers to use an abacus to teach math, because we have progressed from that method.  We have better resources.  We need to provide teachers with the most state of the art resources possible.  Even Bill Gates states in an e mail interview for this article that, “we can’t withhold access to the tools students will use in the workplace and for lifelong learning.”

Concerns over laptop computers in the classroom continue to arise.  Many people are concerned about the cost to the families.  While Compaq and Microsoft have discounts and programs in place for some schools, many do not, and must “offload the cost of the technology onto families, causing inequities”.  I agree that there needs to be a way that students have equal opportunities for computer usage in classrooms.  I feel that if a school wants to utilize laptops, then they need to provide them for all students.  I am sure there are grants and philanthropists wiling to help out with this need.  The opportunity to put modern technology in the hands of students can only help them thrive in school.

There are arguments for and against laptop computers in the classroom, just as there are arguments about many educational issues.  I feel that as our world continues to progress technologically, we need to continue to provide the materials for our children to grow.  We will need to turn these students out into the world ready for jobs, college and life.  There are not too many places anymore that we do not encounter computer technology.  It is essential that we provide our schools the proper technology advances to educate our computer savvy students.