Learning with Computers: Chromebooks in my Classroom

Recently, schools all over the nation have been giving students their own computers: iPads, laptops, Chromebooks, or similar devices. Why do this? What does it mean for education and for these kids?

While some would like to keep our children and our educational system in amber and stop time, it is neither possible nor healthy. Regardless about how we feel about the digital age, it is our children’s home. We may wax sentimental about our own school days, but our experiences have less and less in common with present day students.

In short, it is irresponsible for educators to do anything less than get on this train. If we don’t, we leave ourselves, our students, and our communities behind, watching those on board bullet into the future. We live in a web infused, computer driven, technological world; our children must be ready for it.

So I signed on! For the past five weeks, my students have had their own devices: a Samsung Chromebook. I have been teaching for nearly thirty years, and using computers as a tool for almost as long. Yet, this month has given me a taste of the marriage of education and technology.

In the past, my Freshman English classes would make periodic trips to the computer lab. The computers were primarily for two purposes: writing and research. Technology was simply a replacement for typewriters and card catalogs.

Now, when my students arrive in my classroom, they retrieve these small laptop-like computers from a cart in the corner. It is a lightweight window to the web. It doesn’t have programs or applications on it. It has almost no storage. It can do one thing: connect to the web via the Google Chrome browser. It has transformed my classroom and is slowly doing the same to my students’ education.

I did research and received a little bit of training in the use of the equipment and in the pedagogical issues that came with it. I did my own reading and research. I had some hopes, goals, and questions when bringing this tool into my classroom. Yet, I am learning on the job.

My first goal was to enhance the goals that I already had for my students: teach them to become better readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and thinkers; to make them more effective communicators and critical thinkers; to engender a love of literature and language. It was my hope that daily technology would open up new avenues to reach these objectives.

I want to increase student independence and autonomy. I want to see if we can help students manage and direct their own learning more effectively. I want to teach students to help each other learn.

And of course there is the obvious: I want students to learn how to use the web and other technological tools to reach the targets I have listed above. Their smart phones, tablets, computers, and cameras can be far more than entertainment devices; they can use these tools for growth and good.

The addition of technology to my classroom also raised concerns: Will the focus be too much on the technology, and not so much on the processes that the technology should facilitate? Is the Chromebook a good choice for my students? Are there new technology skills that I must add to my curriculum to make sure that kids can use these tools in a productive and safe way? Will I see benefits commensurate with the time and effort it takes to adjust to this new world?

It has only been a month, and I am discovering, changing, and figuring out the new landscape. It is a lot of work. Lesson planning is taking far more time than it has in the past. I would be foolish if I didn’t use this blog to think aloud about what is going on in my classroom. Stay tuned for the continuing drama of Chromebooks in Freshman English!