Free Laptops for Students?     1/11/2006

What you need to know if this program comes to your children’s school.

It is hard to argue the fact that schools must prepare students technically for the 21st century. Parents want their children equipped to enter college and the workforce with the best possible skills and knowledge. We are rapidly becoming a global society, and school districts are under a great deal of pressure to ensure that students not only have access to technology in schools and that the access is equitable. The term “digital divide,” or lack of access to technology, has put school districts on the defense. They don’t want to appear that they are not equally providing technology for students across all the socio-economic groups.

In an effort to bridge the digital divide, school districts are moving aggressively to provide laptops to all students. This one-to-one computing initiative is spreading rapidly as schools look for additional ways to impact overall student learning and achievement. Some districts are choosing to purchase laptops for classroom use only, while others allow students to take the computers home.

On the surface, laptop initiatives look like a cutting-edge proposition. Technology in and of itself is not a bad thing. A balanced classroom with a strong focus on curriculum enhanced by technology is good. But behind the appearance of good intentions lurk the dark side of pornography, radical changes to classroom structure, forced globalization and the bottomless money pit through unmanaged tax dollars.

Pornography in the Home and Classroom
It is guaranteed that students using a computer at school will be assaulted by pornography at some level. The Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires school districts to purchase filtering software to block Internet pornography. Regrettably, the filter does not stop a pornographer’s deceitful mind from inventing ways of coming in the back door.

Christians, parents and concerned citizens should be very concerned if a school district determines that students should be able to take a laptop home. The immediate possibility is that pornography could invade a home that previously could not afford a computer. Under pressure to provide equal access to the Internet, a school district might even consider subsidizing an Internet service provider. Some cities are funding wireless networks for citizens that would allow instant access to the Internet at no cost.

Maine’s student laptop program was the first statewide wireless initiative in the country that provided laptops to all seventh and eighth grade students to use both at school and home. In November 2005, the school system in the town of Van Buren barred students from taking the laptops home because they were using them to visit pornographic Web sites and chat rooms.

Do not let anyone convince you that teachers can control student use of laptops in a medium or large classroom. It is impossible for a teacher to monitor students the entire class period or day.

What’s the real danger?

• Pop-up ads are very difficult to control. For example:
• A second grader was taking a mandatory test on a computer when suddenly an ad of two naked men popped up on the screen.


• An elementary Web site about Thanksgiving popped an ad of two lesbian women lying side-by-side.
• Students can download pornography at home and save it to the laptop at school. The computer instantly becomes a digital Playboy (or worse) magazine.


• A school district that invests in a large amount of laptops will probably purchase some sort of e-mail system for students. Students can easily transmit indecent pictures taken from a digital camera or cell phone to large numbers of students via e-mail accounts.

Classroom Structure and Management
Dangerous (and, quite honestly, loopy) educational philosophies have emerged over the past several decades. A leading educational “philosopher” and “authority” on student learning, Lewis Perelman, says, “Why clutter our brain learning facts? You don’t need to – just learn where to find the facts.” This “less teaching and more learning” philosophy basically means students don’t need to know the facts, just how to access them. The local classroom “teacher” simply becomes the facilitator or guide to aid the students in accessing the facts. Diehard advocates of this philosophy say that teachers should teach 20 percent and students learn 80 percent.

The “Teach Less, Learn More” philosophy has attached itself to technology. Alan November, a leading consultant on laptops in the classroom, believes the best way for students to learn is to hand them a laptop, connect them to the Internet and step out of the way. A red flag should be raised if a school district hires Alan November as a consultant for a laptop purchase or for professional training for teachers.

The use of learning stations for elementary schools and cooperative grouping for middle and high schools means a major change to classroom management and teaching style. “Socialism” is a synonym for this development, which includes in-depth training for teachers on how to use laptops to transform their classrooms into this type of grouping. Teachers are extremely resistant to changing an effective teacher style but are forced to make the change with the laptops.

Constructivist theory, the learning theory whereby students learn by actively constructing new know-ledge, not by having information poured into their heads, and differentiated instruction, “the intent of maximizing each student’s growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is,” * are both promoted in a technology-rich classroom. These methods should be considered counterproductive to a child’s education but, regrettably, laptop educators strongly support them.

One final question before leaving laptops and classroom management: Where are the textbooks in a 21st- century classroom? If the Alan Novembers and the Lewis Perelmans of this world have their way, all textbooks will be online. This means that parents will have difficulty monitoring the sources of materials used by the teacher.

Class Communication
There is a bundle to be made by vendors who sell software that allow for teachers and students to communicate in a 21st-century classroom. With a laptop in the hands of every student, it only makes sense for a school district to purchase some sort of e-mail system so that teachers can communicate to students, students can communicate to other students, and students can send all assignments to their “e-locker.”

These e-mail systems raise several red flags:

• They can cost in the millions.


• Most have a blog or chat component for intra-classroom communication among students. Students are asked to critique classmates’ work online instead of face-to-face. Most cyber-bullying experts will tell you students can become very mean and aggressive in this type of online environment.


• Many blogging sites are free and the current trend for authentic, real-world communication between students. What parents do not realize is that blogging sites are open on the World Wide Web, potentially exposing students to predators and malicious classmates. Alan November strongly supports blogging and offers a free site for educators.


• Students love instant messaging (IM) and this communication is very difficult for teachers to control. Some laptop vendors believe that “IMing” is the first feature teachers should utilize in the classroom. This would allow teachers to use that prior knowledge as a beginning point for authentic communication between peers.

Globalization
There is a push to connect students globally in order to communicate and exchange ideas. Several companies offer free services to enable students to communicate around the world. One educator, speaking from personal experience, said this could be a disaster. Normally parents have to sign a letter of approval for their child to participate in these types of Internet projects. Parents trust that the environment is safe and that the teacher is monitoring the communication. In one instance, a parent read an e-mail from her child’s European “e-pal” that explained how to build a bomb and use it against Americans.

Tax Dollars
Finally, technology is not cheap. It can be a bottomless pit of taxpayer dollars. Expenditures could include:

• The laptop itself


• Infrastructure purchases and upgrades


• Cost of continual upgrades


• Replacement costs when computers become obsolete


• Replacement costs of laptop batteries


• Purchase of software: tutorial and classroom management (e-mail system for students)

Laptop initiatives are guaranteed to become more widespread. If schools in your community become involved, do your homework. Be sure to attend meetings and ask questions raised in this paper. Above all, safe and successful schools require involved parents and community members.

Editor’s Note: The author is a pro-family, grassroots activist and educator who wishes to remain anonymous.

________________________

* Hall, T. Differentiated Instruction, (Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, 2000). Available at http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstruc.html.

Printer Friendly Version

Recent Articles

The School Violence Prevention Act

What Will They Be Teaching Your Children?

Federally Funded Study Confirms that Abstinence Education Works!

Crouse says: Kevin Jennings Must Go

Lynchburg Conference Offers Encouragement

Kevin Jennings: Disturbing Background, Disturbing Agenda

Kevin Jennings Connected to ACT-UP and NAMBLA Sympathizers

Kevin Jennings: Too Radical to Oversee Education Programs