Laptops
Documents and recollections from the early days of 1:1 computing in schools.
laptops in education
October 18, 2021
“Our school systems are being strangled by the cost of this curious epidemic of learning disability.” Seymour Papert From Papert, S., March 16, 2000. Millennial Lecture at the Muskie Archives.
May 9, 2012 (Rare Discoveries Week)
“…for example, Larry Cuban, the hypercritic, the king of the criticism of computers – recently, and again, in an interview with the New York Times says, ~”Well, we didn’t ask for the kids to have these computers! But you’re fundamentally mistaken if you think it will change education.”~ Why? Well, he goes on to say …
April 24, 2012
“It’s astonishing – no other word would do – that everywhere where there is knowledge work, you expect to see a computer on every desk and yet our schools still boast of the fact that we’ve finally achieved a computer in every classroom. Wow, it is astonishing.” Papert, S. (2004). Will Going Digital Improve or …
March 13, 2012
“I guess this week the question to ask in Maine is, “Why should every 7th and 8th grader have a laptop computer?” Well, the short answer is, “Every 7th grader should have a laptop computer because everybody should have a laptop computer.” And why? Again the short answer is, “Well, I have one. I could …
December 12, 2011
“The cost of giving every child a $750 computer with a five-year life would add only 2 percent to the average cost of educating a child in the United States. With a little R&D [research and development], the computer industry could easily halve or quarter that number.” Papert, Seymour. (1997) From Relearning Education in the …
November 30, 2011
“We better recognize that laptop is just a little step in the progress towards the shift from the medium of paper, the primacy of paper-based static media to the primacy of electronic digital media, that’s going to come, it’s going to sweep the world, it’s going to change what we think we can know, how …
September 29, 2011
“My vision of a new kind of learning environment demands free contact between children and computers. This could happen because the child’s family buys one or a child’s friends have one. For purposes of discussion here (and to extend our discussion to all social groups) let us assume that it happens because schools give every …
September 22, 2012
“Q: But there are statistics to show that in most cases technology in schools doesn’t work. A: The statisticians ask a silly question and get a silly answer. Of course “technology doesn’t work.” Technology doesn’t do anything. People do. Statistics that lump together technology implementations across the board — averaging the good with the bad …
June 2, 2011
“The eighth big idea is we are entering a digital world where knowing about digital technology is as important as reading and writing. So learning about computers is essential for our students’ futures BUT the most important purpose is using them NOW to learn about everything else.” Papert, S. (1999) “The Eight Big Ideas Behind …