ClassLink Blog

On February 8, 2006, Governor Ed Rendell announced his proposed budget that included the “Classrooms for the Future” initiative. Governor Rendell proposed that:

By 2009, every public high school classroom used to teach the four core subjects will have an Internet-equipped laptop computer on every student’s desk … as well as … a multimedia technology unit at the teacher desk. What’s more, we will invest in professional development for Pennsylvania teachers and school leaders to teach them how to use the new technology that will boost the skills and knowledge of our students.

He went on to say:

I would love to say that this idea is one that will put Pennsylvania in front of other states, and that when we were developing this program, we thought we would be at the forefront of the nation. But other states are already blazing the trail. Gov. Reil of Connecticut proposed a similar effort last year and Govs. Romney of Massachusetts and Rounds of South Dakota are also intending to make similar investments this year. Pennsylvania can take our high schools to the next level, but only if we act now to begin the broad deployment of these technologies.

Pennsylvania joins Maine, Connecticut, South Dakota, Massachusetts, and Indiana in developing state level initiatives to bring computers (read laptops) to every student.

Low cost computers, like the Ausus Eee PC, provide full access to educational software and the Internet at price points that make these initiatives a realistic possibility for more and more schools.

And Governor Rendell is right, his ‘One to One’ initiative is not the first such program in the United States.

Technology, in the right hands and in sufficient quantity, will transform education. However, realizing this dream will take effective leadership and lots of communication among the pioneers. In April, Penn State will be hosting its 4th Annual One to One Computing Conference.

The purpose of this conference is to connect current and future leaders of one-to-one educational computing environments to improve both the quality of education they offer and the quality of data they produce.This conference attracts one-to-one pioneers from across the United States and Canada.

We can learn a lot about what lies ahead by speaking with those who are blazing the trails. As we approach the second decade of the 21st Century, more and more the question seems to be “Not if…but when” every child will have access to a computing device.