Challenges of the laptop environment in schools

The first full year of our own 1:1 laptop programme is fast approaching. Our 'soft start' (as we like to term it) has meant that mobile devices of one sort or another have crept into the hands of approximately a third of our boys' hands on any one 'average' day. Of course these devices range from iPods to smart phones, iPads and laptops, and uses range from distraction to what I would describe as nicely rounded construction of learning using the Google suite of tools.

One of the earliest uses that boys have taken up is simple note taking. I heard a delightful phrase at a conference last month in which laptops were described as little more than $1000 pencils in some schools, and I'd be worried is this was the limit of use in our case. I'm glad to be able to report that that doesn't look to be the case, although it is still something that a number of boys have simply gravitated towards of their own volition.

This has presented an interesting problem. In our experience a significant obstacle for boys in their learning is that they are often (NOT universally I hasten to add) not well organised. They have traditionally kept an A4 arch file for each subject with pages kept inside the folder - sometimes. The pages are filed according to topics - sometimes. The pages remain in the file - sometimes. You get the picture. Consequently we have tended to stress organisation for the boys, guiding them in how to organise their learning materials so that they can readily access them when they need to revise.

The problem that we are already seeing with boys is this. They may start by taking some notes, or completing some work on paper. They might then open a MSWord (or equivalent) document and record some work. They might then complete some work on Google Docs, so now they have work in at least three different places, one of which isn't even electronic. This is shaping up to be an organisational nightmare. As adults we'd struggle to keep  a track of things. How will the adolescent boy brain cope with this fragmentation of learning resources?

We've been talking about this. Here's a possible solution: ePortfolios. In New Zealand the most likely tool is Mahara. If boys could put all of their electronic documents into their ePortfolio, and then use our copier technology to scan paper activities, resources etc (although it begs the question of why activities would be in paper form) then it may just be possible to give boys the tools to organise their work, with the added advantage that once it's there, it won't get lost, unlike the pieces of paper that occasionally populate their arch files.

At least with this solution, we are back to the status quo, it reverts to the same organisational problem we have now, with an electronic tool replacing a paper one.

I'd love to get other perspectives on the problem.