Netbooks

My district is in the midst of moving to a 1-1 netbook-student ratio. That ratio holds true through the secondary grades, but is more like 1 set per grade level (or 2-1 student/netbook) at the elementary level. I'm a bit of tech geek/nerd, so this is fantastic. The effect is similar to teaching in a tech lab, which I almost already have (2-1 ratio currently).

We've been piloting it in my grade level since last week. The initial teaching of how to treat them, how to manipulate the touchpad, and how to get familiar was a bit time intensive. Logging in, since it is wireless (and there are 20+ other machines logging in simultaneously), took longer than usual. But each subsequent usage has been far more efficient. We use the downtime to read, largely because it means kids need to have their hands away from the touchpad or keyboard (plus we have novel study as an ongoing project). So far so good.

This past week was part of the acclimation period. This coming week we will be going ahead with the netbooks full bore. I was inspired by a project-based learning video from Common Craft. Instead of project based learning, we're going to be more question-based. The question: Which of the 8 explorers we've studied was the best explorer during the Age of Exploration?

We've already done some of the background work. We have read about these 8 explorers, and asked questions to fill in missing information using some internet research on the netbooks. To respond to this question, kids will need to do an initial evaluation to narrow down their comparison to two or three of the eight. After that they will need to compare/contrast these explorers, and think critically about the information in order to make a final evaluation. Once they've done that they will need to synthesize it into one "thing"- poster, PowerPoint, Photostory, or essay. The thing will show why their explorer is the best, and will need to include accomplishments of the explorer as well as comparison statements between their explorer and another (i.e. "Unlike other explorers, like Hernan Cortes, Jacques Cartier did not attempt to conquer native people"). Assuming I provide enough scaffolding, I think this will turn out really well. It should also put the netbooks to great use, as kids will be responsible for creating multiple documents on the netbook and doing additional research. Can't wait!