A Day in the Life of a Laptop Student
I wrote a short piece for our school yearbook describing how being a 1:1 laptop school affects our learning community. I cover just a few of the ways these wonderful learning tools affect the way we communicate, organize ourselves and learn.
The 1:1 Apple laptop program drives much of the learning at HIS giving students and teachers access to numerous software programs, online tools and the Internet. From early morning through the evening, our community of learners uses their laptops to communicate, gather information, organize their day, generate learning projects, and expand the learning community.
Students start their days by checking their Google email accounts for any messages from fellow students and teachers. The next step is to log in to our classroom management Web resource named Moodle. Moodle is a virtual learning place where teachers post homework assignments and use several tools like forums, wikis and Web site link directories to manage their courses. Moodle also brings our community together by listing important dates, links to our student-created videos and online photo slideshows.
Accessing information is central to the learning expeditions our students and teachers take together. Whether venturing forth in teacher created WebQuests or pursuing one’s own questions, the laptops make inquiry learning a significant part of our curriculum. Online textbooks, simulations and Web site resources add to the information rich environment.
The student MacBooks come with the iLife suite of multimedia software programs that provide the instruments to:
-edit and manage photo collections
-shoot and edit video
-create multimedia presentations
-generate original musical scores for multimedia projects
-record and edit podcasts
Moving into the evening, students check Moodle for assignments and updated information from their teachers. They might log into their Google Documents account to revise an essay they are sharing online with their teacher. Or maybe they are just starting an essay or video project so they go to their Mindmeister concept mapping Web site to brainstorm their ideas which can then be reviewed by their teachers. Finally, it is time for reflection and seeing what is happening in the world. This is when students check their favorite news sites, think about their learning and go to their blogs to record their thoughts.
