To Laptop Moratorium Page

Questions Towards an Evaluation of
Lakeside's Laptop Program

Doug Schuler
douglas@scn.org

First draft: September 8, 2001
Updated: March 19, 2002

This is an evolving set of questions that is intended to assist with an ongoing evaluation of Lakeside's mandatory laptop program. I am very interested in feedback from parents, students, faculty, administrators, and graduates of Lakeside.

Background

I have included this background paragraph because some parents, teachers, students, and administrators may not have been present during the 2000-2001 school year in which many of these issues were raised. It will hopefully serve as a reminder for those who were present.

Lakeside School in Seattle, Washington, like other schools before it, has decided to integrate wireless laptops into its curriculum. In early 2001, a decree was issued that all students from 7th to 12th grades would be required to own a PC (Intel/Microsoft) laptop computer for everyday use at Lakeside. If the student didn't already own a suitable laptop he or she can purchase one through the school for about $2000. According to the original plan this computer would be an integral component in all classes.

Many people, including those having extensive experience with both computers and education, who are keenly aware of what computers can and can't do, felt that the decision was not guided by thoughtful analysis of educational needs. These parents (and some former students) wrote letters to Bernie Noe and the board of trustees, the primary supporters, offering thoughtful critiques of the proposal and its lack of clear objectives and goals. Eventually the administration modified its decision by requiring only 7th, 8th, and 9th graders to own laptops. Thus, in three years, all students except 5th and 6th graders will bring their laptops every day to school. My son Reed, now in 11th grade, will not be participating in the program while my daughter, now in 6th grade, will be presumably be participating in the program next year and then as long as she continues at Lakeside.

Motivation for these Questions

This open-ended list of questions is designed to surface the goals and objectives of the experiment and, also, to help establish how well the goals are objectives are being met. Without clear goals and objectives, of course, it is difficult to evaluate the experiment. Also, without attempting to answer these questions, how can Lakeside ensure that the educational experience will be enhanced rather than compromised in some way? It is hoped that an evaluation document like the one below will help answer these questions. Hopefully, this increased understanding will help Lakeside teachers and administrators determine how (and if) to change the program in any way or if there are other approaches that have a better ratio of benefits to costs (financial and otherwise). Also, as demonstrated with the "Laptop Moratorium" web site, establishing a presence on the web, outside of the school's orbit, increases the likelihood that the important questions that need to be raised are raised.

This is an early version of an evolving document. Please let me know you have any suggestions as to how to improve these questions for evaluation. Thanks!

Learning Objectives

• What are the general learning objectives? What deficits, if any, are the computers supposed to redress?
• What are the general learning objectives for individual classes?
• Were the teachers involved in the development of these learning objectives?
• How well were learning objectives addressed?

Collateral Damage

• How many computers were lost or stolen during the year?
• How many time were the computers taken in for repairs? What were the nature of the repairs?
• How often were the computers used in class? For what purpose?
• Were there any physical problems related to computer use? eyesight, back problems, wrist or fingers?
• Were there any emotional or psychological problems related to computer use?
• Were there any problems related to "appropriate use" -- e.g. watching movies or sports events in class, instant messaging, visiting pornographic sites?
• How much time spent was spent on computers education vs. how much time was spent on class content?
• How much time was spent waiting for computers (to boot up, for example) or for students to get to the same location in the computer?

Computer Fluency

• What computer applications are students now familiar with?
• How much do students understand about how computers work?
• Are students better equipped to make decisions and recommendations about computer deployment (in the classroom, for example)
• Are students better informed and thoughtful on about the uses of computers in society? What can or should, for example, be done about the "digital divide?" Are students familiar with claims that computer manufacturers and other advocates make about computers? Are they aware of how computers are integrated into media, manufacturing, finance, military operations, telecommunications and other major areas of modern life?

Quality of Education

• Are students with specific learning styles better or worse served by focusing attention on the computer?
• How are laptops enriching the educational experience?
• How are the laptops affecting the nature of collaborative activities inside and outside of the classroom?
• How do computers affect the nature of the reports and presentations that students are developing?
• Are there areas of student performance and learning that are declining due to the laptops, and, if so, how will these problems be redressed?
• Is there evidence that the laptops are helping to prepare students for further education (high school, college, etc.) by developing educational competencies that weren't otherwise being addressed?
• Is the additional work done by faculty (developing web pages, for example) effective in terms of meeting their educational objectives?

Oversight and Social Roles

• How will feedback from teachers, students, parents be solicited and used in decision-making?
• How much pressure is put on teachers to use the laptops in their classrooms? Is it mandatory?
• What feedback will be gathered from teachers? Are teachers allowed to register negative feelings about the laptops?
• What is the relation between the adoption of the laptop computers and fiscal responsibility? E.g. are there funding sources that will dry up without continued laptop adoption?
• What are the "lessons learned" so far in relation to the process by which the original decision was rendered?
• How long will the program be "suboptimal" (as Skip Kotkins suggested in last year's public meeting)?
• What is the role of the board of trustees on educational policy?

Financial Costs

• How much additional financial costs per student are raised by this program? How much additional financial burden is this program raising in total by the families of the students.
• How much additional cost is borne by Lakeside through new technology, new staff roles, etc.?
• Could these costs be reduced significantly in ways that would not reduce the positive educational impacts of the laptops (see quality of education section above)?

Options

• Finally, what options should be considered that might be able to more effectively meet the educational objectives? In other words, are there alternatives that could meet or exceed the goals but at less cost, financially and otherwise?