We're One-to-One! We're One-To-One!

The days of dreaming of one-to-one are gone for many schools - the Pandemic helped springboard that into reality with the funding supplied to much of the districts to use. However, of the equipment that has been purchased over the last two years, what is being used appropriately and what remains an expensive dust-collector?

The Ongoing Role of Asset Tracking

Students are increasingly becoming more and more tech savvy each year. The funds that are utilized to purchase more technology for education come with added responsibility - someone must manage that equipment. According to Krivanek (2021), creating a plan and a device step-by-step checklist is one way to begin to track all of the new equipment. But, what about the person's responsibilities before this added task? I am interested to see how roles of employees are stretched to include new responsibilities. 

In a school of 1200 students, one person is now responsible for 1200+ Chromebooks and chargers, in addition to what they have already been doing. There is no added compensation for this role, just simply the expectation that it will be taken care of and be a value-added role. In a typical school day, there are students who experience hardware/software issues, lost devices, connectivity issues, forgetting devices and needing to borrow another, and a myriad of other issues. The one person who has now assumed responsibility of distributing the devices has accumulated daily duties to replenish requests to maintain the adequate 1:1 experience. Herein lies and opportunity - to teach students and parents proper care and responsibilities of managing their 1:1 devices. 

With Added Technology Comes Great Responsibility 

Students and parents have the opportunity for technology to be better incorporated and more readily and easily accessed in schools. The Center for Democracy & Technology (2021) states, "while schools are making progress, and support for online learning among teachers and parents remains strong, important gaps in student privacy remain." They encourage continued education and exploration to keep abreast of information and developing knowledge. Simply handing out devices will not take our students from a 14 to a 25 on the ACT. There are responsibilities that come with having newer technologies. 

Maybe envisioning this from a standpoint of riding a bicycle or learning to drive a car is needed. Students are not expected to execute responsibilities perfectly upon receipt of the Chromebooks. However, with proper guidance and procedures made known, students can be more aware of privacy and how to be productive utilizing the device as an educational instrument.  

The Center for Democracy & Technology (2021) suggests the following steps:

1. Continue to establish and update privacy-forward policies
2. Better equip teachers to use school technology responsibly
3. Address the latest privacy and security risks that pose the greatest threats to students
4. Engage parents in privacy protection 
5. Embed privacy protection in efforts to close the homework gap

There are several debates left on the table today regarding the required balance between technology in schools and how it works for students and families. One detail that is heavily agreed upon is that education data and technology "should not and cannot come at the expense of student safety and well-being" (Center for Democracy & Technology, 2021). 

Just Keep Swimming...

We have a responsibility as educators to equip our students, and ourselves, with working strategies that engage and benefit the learning process. Will every technology be successful? No, likely not...however, without sampling and examining what the possibilities are and how we can best meet the needs of every learner, it is worth trying. The research of 1:1 and its effectiveness is ongoing. The Pandemic uncovered many strengths and weaknesses of our practices; we are now responsible for attempting to fill the gaps in technology to see if students actually benefit from the accessibility to increased screen time with the implementation of devices used at school and home.