Miguel quoted yesterday’s post and used it as an argument against buying laptops. He writes:

Chris writes about issuing laptops, but stops for a moment to make this statement (quoted above). Perhaps, laptops are going to take things further, but are they really necessary? Can’t we accomplish the kind of teaching our students need to survive batteries of high-stakes tests WITHOUT the laptops? And, if you answer, “Yes, but…” then those laptops are an unnecessary expenditure.

Cut them from the budget.

Stop wasting time on the technology, spend more time on what it is that sustains teachers and keeps them teaching “in such a way that the spirit and energy is there without the laptops.”

I’m going to have to disagree with him here. This shouldn’t be a shock.

I do think that there are some of folks out there who think that we can just drop computers on schools and change schools completely. I think that those folks have made it harder for those schools who understand that it’s a combination of technology and pedagogy that has to change things.

And yes, I also think there are a whole lot of schools with amazing pedagogy that do incredible things with kids without a 1:1 program. But I’d love to see what 1:1 and some great PD could do in those schools.

Pedagogy comes first. Always. How we teach and the values and beliefs that our schools hold as dear are more important than any piece of technology. We can’t hand kids laptops and hope good things happen. Let’s make sure we are talking about inquiry-based education. Let’s make sure we are developing integrated curricula that breaks down the barriers between “History” and “English” and “Science” and instead talks about learning. Let’s create schools where students and teachers create a culture of mutual respect and care. Let’s find better and richer and more authentic data streams than multiple choice tests — creating innovative projects that allow students to dig deeply into content and use skills to show us what they know.

And yes, I believe that even without laptops, a school with those values will end up doing much, more more than a school with a traditional curriculum. I know — I spent nine years at Beacon surrounded by colleagues who did amazing things, both using technology and not. But I also know how many times we thought “If only…” I know how often teachers wanted to use the labs but found them booked. And I know how much that drained the “spirit and energy” that Miguel talked about.

So when we get the chance to build schools with that pedagogical backbone — and we can then give them the tools they need — how can we argue that we are “wasting time on the technology?” We’ve had the laptops for a day at SLA, and we have miles to go before we figure out all that they will enable us to do. Already, the laptops combined with the pedagogy and the right server tools are allowing us to create some amazing things. Already, teachers and students are logging on at 11:00 pm at night and having conversations about the class from just a few hours previous. Already, kids are looking forward to doing desktop (laptop?) publishing and science labs. And already, we’re trying to figure out what the first blog project will be… the first podcast project… the first digital storytelling project.

The technology does not and cannot drive the pedagogy alone. But you bet I believe that it will be a big part of allowing us to realize the full potential of our ideas.