This year Toshiba is celebrating 10 years of its one-to-one computing programs. Successes like Cincinnati Country Day have been highlighted. A few years ago Microsoft published a video case study on CCD.
The video has been shown in meetings and conferences, linked to from
blogs, forums, and news sites and has been extremely useful in
introducing people to the concept of the benefits of PC technology in
the classroom.
Last week Microsoft published an update on CCD in a print case study. The case study reviews the progress from 1996 laptops to Tablet PCs of today. It also highlights how DyKnow Vision & Monitor software has been critical in how students and teachers interact and collaborate during lessons.
Student uses don’t stop with note-taking though. Students are even using the Tablet PCs to develop software.
In Baker’s course, Introduction to Programming,
students learn ActionScript scripting language in Adobe Flash (formerly
Macromedia Flash) under the guise of game design, and the Tablet PC is
key to supporting the strong creative element that Baker brings to the
class. He uses DyKnow Vision to work through commands in ActionScript
and talks about step-by-step development of an algorithm. “Then I give
students an open-ended assignment to encourage a creative response—for
example, make a game of something falling from the sky and catching it
with something,” Baker explains. “The next day, each student will bring
in something unique, like a gorilla using a basket to catch bananas
that are falling out of a tree. The Tablet PC is perfect for this
because everything is drawn by hand. The students are still
problem-solving, they still have to get the commands in the right order
to make the computer do what they want, but they are problem solving
creatively.”
It’s invigorating to see the wide range of ways students are
exploring and learning with these tools. I look forward to seeing how
CCD continues to progress.