Sarah offers thoughtful comments from a student’s view of a paperless classroom.
She argues some teachers’ and students’ positions clearly. And she infers an argument for fairness in the distribution of use and value derived from personal computers in schools.
Others of us disagree with her points. That’s good.
It seems to me that electronic devices such as Tablet PCs, Ultra Mobile PCs and other mobile PCs exist in schools around the world. They probably won’t go away soon. And, some students use them successfully.
PC users in schools exchange, for example, the risk of rain ruining paper for viruses ruining an electronic document.
In both cases, students must figure out for themselves how to identify and calculate risks. That’s a major part of the unwritten curriculum of schooling.
Students and teachers must also schedule their work to handle risks. And, they must figure out ways to overcome those risks to perform at their maximum in schools.
No one and no machine can remove all risks from any student or teacher.
Nor has anyone figured out how to remove inequities in the distribution of risks and in resources to overcome risks.
So far, risks are part of life in and out of schools.
To some of us, it seems increasingly clear that teachers and students who do not use computers risk a different economic future for themselves and for those with whom they work than those who use computers in schools and elsewhere.
I wonder if we can have empirical evidence about the value PCs add to a person’s life soon enough for everyone to have a PC and to enjoy that value equally in and out of school?
What do you think?