Honeymoon over for laptop learning?

Dallasblog.com | Caroline Walker:

“A story by Winnie Hu in Friday’s New York Times should serve as a cautionary tale for true believers in the miracle of high-tech classrooms. The Liverpool Central School District, just outside of Syracuse, New York, is scrapping its cutting-edge laptop program. ... What school districts like Liverpool’s are discovering is that one-to-one laptop learning doesn’t come anywhere near to measuring up to the hype that preceded it.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Those who thought laptops were going to unleash an education miracle were duped. And those who think that you can turn back the clock on high tech in the classrooms are equally wrong. Computers are a tool, just like calculators were a tool, and slide rules before that. Students who are taught how to use tools wisely will surpass those who are kept from learning how to use tools at all. The sooner the so-called experts in the media realize that, the sooner we can put such sophomoric, all-or-nothing debates behind us and children in the classrooms can benefit from the best that high tech can offer.

By the way, if you think you might have missed the Dallas Blog coverage of the related story of the study that shows that abstinence-only sex education also "doesn't come anywhere near to measuring up to the hype that preceded it", you didn't miss anything. Dallas Blog picks and chooses the stories it covers to fit its preconceived notion of what the world should be, not the world as it is.