Laptops in the Classroom: Cheaper, Better, Fasterfor Students and Teachers

Posted by Matthew Brodsky

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Looking for reliability? Sager claim that they test every one of their notebooks for 96 hours before shipping them out to eager customers. Meticulous hardware testing is an important reason why they are synonymous with build quality and reliability.

It's anamazing concept. Laptops used in today's classrooms are markedlycheaper, perform immensely better, and look far sleeker than theircounterparts a decade or two ago did. Learninglaptops.org did a little math on the topic, and found thatthe eMacs used in its classes now cost one-tenth what the AppleII+ computers did back in 1981.

The comparison gets more ridiculous when you consider what yougot for your money. The Apple IIsdidn't even have a stinking hard drive! The eMacs come with 40GB. The Apple IIs had 64,000 bytes of RAM, the eMacs 256,000,000bytes. As for software, we're talking BASIC-based AppleWorks forthe Apple II. For the eMac, there's the whole package ofentertainment programs-iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iDVD.

Even since 1999, LearningWithLaptops.org reports, Apple notebooks have improved in price and quality. A 2005 iBook cost halfthe price of the iBook in 1999. And the 2005 laptop hasa four-times faster central processing unit, five times morememory, and 12 times more storage space in the hard drive.

Add this technological acceleration to the dynamic of theInternet today, which represents a much more vast informationnetwork, both for searching and for storage. Plus, handheld andportable digital devices, such as cell phones and MP3s, are having just asmuch effect on how kids, and their parents when they have time,interact with the world and each other.

This pace of change and the massive benefits already beingdelivering from it are a boon to everyone hooked into the DigitalAge. But like any innovative technology, from television tonuclear energy, dynamite to the wheel, this digital informationtechnology can be a danger if it's not grasped, monitored,managed, and regulated.

For students, teachers and school administrators can help withthis massive undertaking, basically by updating the curriculum tocatch up with new technology. Students are already familiar with IM, picturephones, chatrooms, Web site development, and file sharing.Teachers need to tap into this experience and use it to fuel productive, educational uses in the classroom.

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