This is a presentation aimed at teachers encouraging them to welcome student laptops into the classroom.

1. Welcoming laptops into the classroom
-Some tips and strategies
-Claire Amos
-Director of e-learning
-Epsom Girls Grammar School
-am@eggs.school.nz

2. The initial thing to consider is your own
feelings towards ICT.
 Are you comfortable with laptops coming into the
classroom?
 What are the perceived issues and how might we
overcome them?
 Successful introduction of laptops into the
classroom hinges on our attitude.
 How can we make laptops welcome?

3.  Talking to our students about laptops being
welcome
 Discussing with students potential ways they
might use them
 Encouraging students to get them out of their bags
 Having some ideas and strategies for making the
most of laptop use
 Not being afraid to trial laptop use in different
ways

4.  Using the laptop for class notes (where
appropriate).
 Students can save notes to ‘My Documents’ or
even better write notes on ‘Google Docs’ (they can
share these with you, which would allow you to
check them remotely).
 They can always back up ‘Google Docs’ to ‘My
Documents’ or vice versa.

5.  Set up a class protocol e.g. Each student sets up a
single Document for your subject using the
Document Title
 ‘Year 9 Science XX(your code) xxxxx (their last
name) xxxxx (first name)’.
 This would allow you to file all class notes in
alphabetical order on Google Docs.
 You could create a separate folder for each class.

6.  Even with just 2-3 laptops in class you could start
using them for online collaboration.
 Have students taking turns as “e-scribes”
recording each part of a jigsaw activity on a single
class Google Document.
 Use laptops instead of paper at each “station” of a
“bus stop” activity

7.  Start the move towards being paperless by putting
all handouts on Moodle and getting laptop
students to access their handouts electronically.
 Check out Teach Paperless for ideas

8.  Even better – look at using eager laptop users as
your “tech angel” – they could upload documents
and links on to the Moodle page for you, or
 Create a Google site which is completely run by
students for students.

9.  You are still the teacher
 You can determine when laptops are and are not
to be used.
 Establish clear codes of behaviour such as closing
laptops when you are speaking (or turning them
around)
 Similarly, you hold the power to make laptop use a
success in your class
 Look at ways it can enrich the great learning that
is already happening!

10. “[It] destroys memory [and] weakens the mind,
relieving it of…work that makes it strong. [It] is an
inhuman thing.”
The sentiment above is from Phaedrus - Plato quoting
Socrates in 500 B.C. Greece. The “it” in the quote is
writing.
Socrates was nervous since his information technology
of the day, memorization, was about to be aced out by
a new information technology, the stylus.

11.  Use Term 4 as a period of trial (and error – always
a learning opportunity to be had!)
 Consider having some strategies ready for making
use of laptops in the new year
 Establish some classroom, subject and/or learning
area protocols for making the most of the laptops!
 Come along to some “Learning over Lunch
sessions