by Christopher Dean, Will Hochman, Carra Hood, and Robert McEachern

The Humanizing Effects of Wireless Laptops: Node III
By Bob McEachern

My New Reality

The English wireless laptop classroom at SCSU eliminates some of those problems. A minor incident about two weeks into the semester made me realize how different the experience in this room was going to be, compared to life in the desktop publishing classroom:

The technology staff set up a program for us whereby we would have student workers (STARS) come in to help us with the technology, at least until we were comfortable with it. The STARS' first task is usually to distribute the laptops to each student before class, freeing the teacher to prepare for the day. Computers are in a locked cart where they recharge between classes. The cart is then locked in a closet in the classroom. Students leave an ID when they pick up the computer, and have it returned when the computer is brought back in one piece. Having the student worker saves three or five minutes or so at the beginning and end of class, significant in a 50-minute class.

One day, my STARS student was sick and couldn't make it to class. I grudgingly distributed the computers myself, grumbling about the wasted time. I passed out the computers, grumbled greetings to each student, checked their IDs as if I were a bouncer at a club (and made jokes along those lines--"You don't look 23") and gave them their computers.

Eventually, the student worker stopped coming to class, which was fine. I continued to distribute the laptops on my own, and I began to enjoy it. Having to do what I once grumbled at now gave me more time to interact with each student. Before, students got their computers and immediately logged on to check mail, instant message friends at the library, whatever. Generally, when a STARS student was there, I'd do the same thing. But passing out computers--taking an ID and handing the machine to the student--gave me 10 or 20 seconds to speak to each person. Sometimes it is just a "Hi, Larissa," but occasionally, it's a "How was the bio test? I saw you studying for it in the hall before class last week," or "You mentioned in your paper that you work at Koffee? I know the owners."

Ten or 20 seconds seems pretty insignificant. But I'll ask you--how many classes have you taught where you greet each student by name before class starts? I don't have evidence that this is contributing to better writing, or happier students. But it feels good to me. I'm assuming it feels good to students. We're not a huge school, but we're big enough that students still complain about not knowing their teachers well. A greeting can mean a lot.

In terms of humanizing the classroom, greeting each student by name is important. Coupled with the mobility the laptops allow, the learning environment has become more humane than the desktop publishing lab. The room is furnished with tables that fit two students on each side. No individual desks. I can sit next to a student and we can move the computer back and forth between us. I can rearrange tables and not worry about cords; on discussion days, we move them into a horseshoe or a square. On group work days, they push tables together so four or five can fit comfortably without fear of banging their machines together. When we're having a whole-class discussion, students can look at me and each other without peering around huge monitors and they can close the laptop, if needed.

Small things, to be sure. But they remove at least some of the problems that my colleagues have worried about, and that I've encountered, with the dehumanizing effects of technology in the writing class.

Node Four of "The Humanizing Effects of Wireless Laptops"