One to One Computing in education is the simple concept of every child and member of staff in a school or institution having access to a personal computer. Over the years, the definitions have evolved to replace the words ‘personal computer’ with ‘laptop’ and more recently ‘device’. A device might include a laptop, netbook, handheld or tablet.
One to One (1:1) is not a new concept. It has been around and promoted for a number of years but only in recent times has it has started to become mainstream as devices have become more readily available and affordable. At the same time school leaders and policy makers have really started to see the value and impact of 1:1 computing on pupil motivation and raising attainment.
Indeed 1:1 Computing is increasingly seen by education visionaries as a key component within the bigger picture of how we deliver education to young people. Anthony Salcito, the VP of Education Worldwide at Microsoft, describes this as an evolution from a traditional (industrialised) approach, through the automated and access age, to an age of holistic transformation.
As the model above shows most countries in the economically developed world are currently in the ‘Automated Age’ and moving towards the ‘Access Age’. If the model is to be believed then many countries around the world will start to move to ubiquitous 1:1 learning environments within the next 5-10 years. Some countries such as Macedonia, Portugal, Turkey and Venezuela are already amongst the early adopters. It is quite rightly perceived that countries with a technological advantage in schools could well lead to an economic advantage in the future leading to other schools and school systems adopting 1:1 in a domino style effect in the short to medium term.
Of course, we know that the adoption of 1:1 in isolation will not be enough in itself to drive the holistic transformation that is needed within many education systems. Infrastructure, good pedagogical practice, school leadership and teacher professional learning are all key ingredients for success.
For the schools and systems that get this right 1:1 computing has the potential to unlock the wonders of an education future that we are only just starting to imagine such as data driven personalisation, learning analytics, seamless collaboration, rich meta- tagged content, stage-not-age assessment and technology enhanced reflective practice.
We hope that within this eBook we can start you on your journey and get you thinking about some of the benefits and challenges of 1:1 environments.
The full eBook can the viewed/downloaded for free below: