Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Experiences using laptops in school

I'm looking for real life experiences of how it's working for any of you whose kids are using personal laptops in school.

I spent law school paying computer games on my laptop in class.

When I went to classes, that is.

What he needs is a stripped down laptop that only has *certain* functions. Like word processing.

Hi Master of none -
I have a Freshman that uses a mac book for virtually all academics - per his IEP. It is essential given that he is profoundly dyslexic, dysgraphic and cannot spell. He was most concerned about what his peers would think about him using a computer, and for the first two weeks of school would not use it. Once he did finally begin to use it, he found that the either kids paid no attention, or they were interested/impressed.

My guy came from a private school that assigned mac books to all students and teachers from grade 6-8. He learned strategies for organization/file management, using the text to voice feature for self editing and reading, and improved his typing skills (slightly). He has recently begun to use Dragon for homework. It is not without its flaws, but it is quicker and spells better.

So - what would I do - If your child needs the laptop I would insist that it is written in the IEP. If he needs copy of class notes, study guides, tests provided in an electronic format, electronic graphic organizers, etc I would also get this in the IEP. This is the way you insure that he will have access to this important tool.

When we shopped for a laptop my son was most concerned with battery life - he knew from his middle school how important it is to have all day access without being tied to an electrical outlet! He has a hard shell case and keeps the laptop in his backpack when not in use. He carries his backpack all day. So far, no theft - but it is on my mind and radar screen. During after school activities, he locks it in his locker. He has not had any trouble keeping it safe in the sleeve within his back pack. At his former middle school, he was issued a very durable laptop case with a shoulder strap. It was a bit geeky, but it was mandated for all the kids. This freed up space in the backpack, but it was an additional item to remember and carry.

Keeping the laptop charged is another concern. My son is in the habit of plugging it in each night before he goes to bed. His middle school remotely shut down the laptops at 10:00 each night (not sure how they did this!) - this was protection against late night game playing and distractions. They also blocked many sites. Now that DS is in HS, we don't think he needs these restrictions - but it is something to think about.

Hope this helps a bit - if you have more specific questions, post back!

as far as size, tablets are awesome! you might check out that new kindle fire. and maybe you'd want to buy the additional insurance against theft...

I think I'd at least try it, but I agree it needs to be put into an IEP to protect him and ensure he is allowed to use it.

I'd personally pick up a netbook from a Best Buy or simliar store that offers a warranty program against accidental damage (dropping it, stepping on it, etc.) Netbooks are pretty cheap, and aren't super powerful, but can easily handle email, word processing and that sort of thing, plus they have a regular keyboard for typing.

There are several types of software you can install to lock down the system, and Windows 7 comes with some built-in security tools as well to prevent children from launching programs they should not (you can even define hours of use.) The folks at the support desk at Best Buy can help you, or if you know someone good w/computers they can walk you through it. (I work in IT, btw.

My son's elementary school had a technology grant and a technology teacher, so he always had access to either a Macbook or an iMac in each class. He also used a computer at home, and because we had Mac, it was very easy to sync his work at school with what he wanted to finish up at home. He carried a jump drive in his backpack and plugged it into whatever computer he was using to access the files he needed to work on.

In midschool, he has access to the class computer if there is heavy note taking, and he uses his computer at home for almost all of his homework - even to type out the answers to math.

We are looking into getting him an iPod Touch for one of the student organizer apps.

We do have it as part of his IEP that he is allowed to do all of his work as needed on a computer, and it's made a huge difference in the quality of work he is turning in.

By the way - don't know where you are - but we have a rider on our homeowner's policy for our more expensive electronic items, camera equipment, etc., and it's only $35 a year and covers replacement even for negligent damage. It's well worth the peace of mind.

I'm not sure much of our experience will apply (except that our public school was beyond impossible to deal with and we bailed to private this year!)... but back to the laptop, this is what we've done and how it's worked:

Our ds started by using an alphasmart at school and working on classroom computers. The classroom computer didn't work out at all because it was shared and it was a pc, not a laptop, hence it sat in a corner of the room and he had to move to it from his desk or wherever he was working. The alphasmart worked better for him because he could be anywhere when he used it (at school). The downside was it was limited in capability and he had a (in his mind) tragic case of a large project lost when the file was transferred from the alphasmart to classroom computer by his teacher. The real downside, from my perspective, to the classroom computer and alphasmart solutions were that a) he couldn't bring them home, and b) no access to the types of specialized software that can really help students with dysgraphia.

His school offered to let him use a school laptop in 5th grade, which he would have been allowed to take from school-home if we signed a liability agreement that said we'd replace the very old laptop with enough money to buy a brand new laptop should our ds accidentally damage the very old laptop (which, btw, didn't hold charge lol!). We felt he needed a laptop that he could take home-school, but didn't want to be liable to the school for damages, as well as we were concerned about the performance of what the school offered.

We gave a laptop to our ds and he's been taking it to school and back home daily for two years now and it's working out really well. It took a bit of time to get him to actually open it up in class and use it - he is very wary of what other kids think and doesn't want to be different in any way. However, as we've pushed for it to be used more and more bit by bit he resists, then tries, then finds that it helps tremendously, and over time he's really begun to rely on it and appreciate having it.

His software includes: basic word processing, powerpoint, spreadsheet etc; word prediction (VERY helpful with his dysgraphia and spelling challenges), text-to-voice (some students find this helpful when editing written assignments, ds doesn't really use his), voice-to-text (ds likes this), software for math (graphing, formulas etc), and other things I can't think of at the moment.

He emails some homework to turn it in, saves everything in one file for one teacher (per the teacher's request, then the teacher either looks through the file or has him print it out when he needs to check it), prints off homework for other teachers. He has a printer and scanner he can connect to at school via USB. Both belong to the school. His school was willing to hook his laptop up to their network, but they had some technical issue with it, so instead he's found hooking up via USB when he needs to works a-ok. He is able to access the school's wifi if he needs to email at school, and we set him up with an email account which I have the password to.

Our ds is fairly compliant at school so we haven't had any issues with him using his computer for anything other than what he's supposed to be using it for at school. (If I sent either one of my dds to school with a laptop they'd get absolutely NOTHING done in the way of schoolwork, and I would probably have teachers calling me asking me to disable the sound so that the rest of the class didn't have to listen to Taylor Swift during quiet work hour!)... but I digress lol!

DH and I have the administrative password for ds' computer and haven't shared it with him, so we're the only people who can install software. That's ok with ds, and so far hasn't caused any problems at school. The school's IT person has asked for access when he was working with printer installs etc, but either dh or I just went in after school and opened up access.

Battery life isn't really something I'd be too worried about. We have our ds charge his laptop overnight at home, and send him to school with a fully charged battery and a charger. If his battery runs down at school (which it almost never does) he can plug it in in the classroom and usually still reach a desk if he has to be working. If he knows it's going to run down he can leave it plugged in in his homeroom during lunch.

Theft is something that was raised by our previous school as a potential issue, but it's something we just chose to leave as a risk and hasn't really been much of a worry. Our ds for the most part has not been careless with his computer - he realizes it cost a lot of $ and has been extremely (for him) conscientious in making sure he keeps track of it. There have been two exceptions to that, both times at his previous school at the end of the day when he got caught up in playing outside after school.. and forgot his backpack on the playground. I totally freaked the first time that happened because I was convinced some other kid would see this nondescript blue backpack as screaming out loud "I've got a computer inside so STEAL me!!!" lol, but instead we drove back to school and there it was, hours later, still sitting on the playground. Having that happen scared our ds quite a bit so I think that's just made it that much more automatic for him to be careful with it.

That's all I can think of right now - if you have other questions about it, let us know!

polarbear

ps - ds has an accommodation for using a "word processor" on classroom testing and state testing. He uses his laptop in the classroom and doesn't have spelling tests, so none of his teachers have ever bothered with worries about spell-check or word prediction etc being turned on. For state testing, he's used a laptop provided by the sped folks at school with spell-check etc turned off, and the sped staff folks scribe his results back to his test booklet.

Just wanted to agree with polarbear - a very important advantage of using his own laptop is the ability to take it home and to set up files in his own way. A thumb nail can accomplish some of this - but it adds an additional step.

As far as the type of laptop - if my son had not been so comfortable with apple, we would have purchased a windows based laptop. They are cheaper and the Dragon Naturally Speaking software is better on windows. He mostly uses word, kurzweil, and power point. Sometimes excel - but not often.

I didn't research netbook options - but it seems that they may be able to do the trick for a lower price tag and longer battery life.

And like polarbear's child, ds uses laptop for state testing. He finds it easier to use his own rather than the school computers. Not sure how his new school will handle this!

You can get extended laptop batteries very cheaply. My laptop has both an extended run battery and another that goes in the DVD slot. I can work for 9 hours on it on the plane. I also carry a spare main battery that I charge for longer flights or meetings.

Used laptops can be found pretty cheaply on Amazon. Get one with a solid state drive as those handle drops very well.

You can get online backup accounts to backup the key folders on the machine if it gets stolen. These are reasonable. Just hook up the laptop when you get home and it can sync overnight.