To: laptops@lakesideschool.org
Cc: bernie.noe@lakesideschool.org
Subject: laptop program questions and concerns
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 15:00:12 -0800

Below are a few of the key questions I would like to hear addressed at the upcoming evening meetings. (I have children in the 9th and 11th grades and plan to attend the 11th grade meeting on Wednesday, 3/21, while my wife plans to attend the 9th grade meeting on Thursday.)

  1. How will the laptops be used in various classes? Please provide specific examples that illustrate advantages they offer to conventional teaching methods (and to out-of -class desktops)? What curricula exist and/or will be used in the first years that will require or substantially benefit from laptops (as opposed to conventional methods or desktops)? In other words, what educationally valuable in-class teaching will laptops enable?
  2. What information from other schools supports the belief that the laptop program will be successful at Lakeside? My information from parents who have children at local schools that have laptops programs indicates that these programs have been unsuccessful and merely distracting to the educational mission of the schools.
  3. What about the pilot program in the Middle School was sufficiently successful to encourage the implementation of the laptop program school wide? The external report that I read about the program was wholly unconvincing as a basis for expanding the program.
  4. What has been the experience at the Middle School and at other schools with student mis-using the laptops during class or even during free periods? For example, I worry that the temptation to watch a web broadcast of favorite basketball team during school will be irresistible, since clicking on a hot-link will be all that is required. Demanding that students avoid such temptations by imposing a set of "guidelines" seems like an unrealistic solution.
  5. What fraction of Middle School students had problems with lost, stolen or damaged laptops during the 2 years of the pilot program? What additional costs were incurred by such events? Beyond the time and cost, these events are also very discouraging if papers need to be rewritten, research re-done, etc. Will there be a way to automatically (or manually) backup the student files to a central server? The information sheet discusses backing up data to a ZIP disk (or to a floppy disk) but my understanding is that the computers will not come with ZIP drives. So will there be ZIP drives available in the classrooms and if so, how many and won't their use require rebooting the student's computer?
  6. Among the circulating rumors I have heard are very disturbing ones suggesting that the laptop program is causing some outstanding faculty to leave or consider leaving Lakeside. Is this true? If so, this effect would seriously undermine any potentially positive impact of the laptop program on the Lakeside educational experience. Has the opinion of the teachers about the laptop program been assessed in an unbiased way? Are teachers being coerced into utilizing laptops in their classes? What efforts are being made to retain those who are outstanding teachers but who do not anticipate incorporating laptops into their curricula.

    7. Thank you.

    Adam Geballe