NetbooksandOpenSourceSoftwareinOnetoOnePrograms byMarkWarschauer,UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine PaperpresentedattheAnnualMeetingoftheAmericanEducationalResearch Association,Denver,Colorado,May2010 MorethanadecadeofresearchononetoonelaptopprogramsinK12schoolshas demonstratedtheireducationalbenefits,includingheightenedstudentengagement, greateraccesstoanduseofdiversesourcesofinformation,improvedstudent writing,anddevelopmentoftechnologicalproficiencyand21stcenturylearning skills(Warschauer,2006;Zucker&Light,2009).Yet,inspiteofthesebenefits,the growthofsuchprogramshasbeenslow,largelyduetotheircost(Greaves&Hayes, 2008) Thisstudyexaminedtheuseofpotentiallymoreaffordablelowcostnetbooksand opensourcesoftwareinthreeschooldistricts,oneeachinAlabama,Colorado,and California.

a.Themultisitecasestudygathereddatathroughclassroomobservations; interviewswithteachers,students,parents,andadministrators;andcollectionof district,school,teachers,andstudentdocumentsandstudentrecords.Analysisof thefirstroundofobservationsandinterviewsindicatesthattherewasnotsomuch anetbookeffectbutratheramodeleffect,withtheresultsachievedbased largelyontheunderlyingreformmodelpursued(seeTable1). TheMaineModel SchooldistrictsinLittleton,ColoradoandSaugus,California,implementedwhatI refertoastheMainemodelofschoollaptopprograms,basedonthehighly popularstatewidelaptopprogramimplementedinMainebeginningin2002(see Warschauer,2006).InbothLittletonandSaugus,asinMaine,thenetbook programswereimplementedintheserviceofclearcurricularandpedagogicalgoals inmind.Decisionsabouthardwareandsoftwareweremadewithinthecontextof district,school,andstudentneedswitheachdistrictselectingaLinuxbasedAsus EEEpcafterreviewingmultiplenetbooks,andapackageofprincipallyopensource software.AsinMaine,bothLittletonandSaugusprogramswerebasedonbalanced attentiontocurriculumdevelopment,infrastructuraldevelopment,technical support,hardwareandsoftwaremaintenance,andteachersprofessional development.Thelaptopsprogramsarebeingphasedinovertime,startingwith pilotprogramsinonegradelevelthatarecarefullyevaluated.AsinMaine,laptops areownedbyschoolsandthestartinggradeoftheprogramisdecidedbasedon curricularandprogrammaticneeds. InterviewsandobservationsindicatethatboththeSaugusandLittletondistrictsare achievingmostofthesamebenefitsnotedinMainewhichincludeimproved integrationoftechnologyininstruction;greaterquantityandimprovedqualityof writing;moreteacherandpeerfeedbackonstudentwork;moredifferentiatedand individualizedlearningopportunities;wideropportunitiestoaccess,critique,and deployinformationfromawidevarietyofsources;anddeeperexplorationoftopics 1

throughindepthresearchthoughatasubstantiallylowercost.Laptopsareused extensivelyonadailybasisbymoststudentsinbothdistricts,andstudents, administrators,andteachersincludingteachersthatwerewaryatfirstare enthusiasticabouttheprograms.Technicalproblemsarerelativelyfew,andthe small,lowcostnetbooksandopensourcesoftwareareviewedasanexcellent matchforstudents.PerhapsthelargestdifferencebetweentheLittletonand SaugusprogramsandtheMaineprogramisthatthelatterfeaturedmoreto multimediadevelopment,whereasthetwoformerprogramsaretargetedmore specificallyontheteachingandlearningofwritingwhichmatchesespeciallywell withthecapacityofnetbooks. TheOLPCModel Incontrast,theBirminghamCitySchoolsinAlabamahascarriedoutwhatcanbe calledtheOLPCmodel,basedontheprinciplesoftheUSnonprofitOneLaptopper ChildAssociation,originallydevelopedforlaptopprogramsindevelopingcountries. InlinewithOLPCprinciples,learningwasviewedasstemmingfromyoung childrensownershipofaradicalnewchildrensmachine,ratherthanthrougha systematicpedagogicalorcurricularreform.TheOLPCsXOlaptopwasdistributed toallchildreningrades1to5,afteronlya6weekpilotprograminoneschool,and littlefundingwasdevotedforteachertraining,curriculardevelopment,Internet access,technicalsupportormaintenance.Asaresult,onlyaminorityofteachers attempttomakeuseofthelaptopsatschool,andmanyofthestudentslaptopsno longerfunction.Lessthanhalfofstudentsevenbringworkinglaptopstoschool. Studentsenjoyusingthelaptopsathome,but,withouttheirintegrationintoan educationalprogram,thereislittleevidenceofsubstantivesocialoreducational benefitachievedfromhomeuse.Sincethechildrenthemselvesownthelaptops, fullyonethirdoftheprogramsinventorydisappearseveryyearduetochildrens graduationfromelementaryschoolormovingoutofthedistrict,thusplacingmore economicburdenontheprogram.Thelargeamountofmoneyspentonthe programiswidelyseenashavingachievednotmuchmorethanacostlylesson (Crowe,2009). Conclusion Netbooksandopensourcesoftwareareaterrifictoolforschoollaptopprograms, butonlyifimplementedintheserviceofawelldesignedinstructionalprogram.

 Table1:MaineModelvs.OLPCModel MaineModel OLPCModel ModelofEducational Viewedasembeddedin Viewedasembeddedin Improvement curricularandpedagogical revolutionaryhardware reform andsoftware HardwareandSoftware Basedonmatchwith Onesizefitsall(xolaptop) Chosen contextandneeds FundingAllocation Balancedforhardware, Largelyforhardwareand software,infrastructure, software maintenance,teacher training TeacherTraining Substantial Minimal Phasein Stagedimplementation Allatonce withpilotprogramsand implementationwithlittle evaluation pilotingorevaluation LaptopOwnership Schoolownership Childownership AgeofChildEntryinto Asappropriateper Kindergartenorfirst Program programgoals grade Acknowledgments ThisresearchwascarriedoutwiththesupportoftheHaynesFoundationand Google. References Crowe, C. (2009, November 26). A costly lesson: A look at Birmingham's curious commitment to the XO laptop. Black & White. Retrieved from http://www.bwcitypaper.com/Articles-i-2009-11-26232786.113121_A_Costly_Lesson.html Greaves, T. W., & Hayes, J. (2008). American's digital schools 2008: The six trends to watch. Encinitas, CA: Greaves Group and Hayes Connection. Warschauer, M. (2006). Laptops and literacy: Learning in the wireless classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. Zucker, A. A., & Light, D. (2009). Laptop programs for students. Science, 323(5910), 8285. doi:10.1126/science.1167705