Do laptops boost learning?
BRENDA WADE SCHMIDT Article Published: 03/23/06, 2:55 am by the Sioux Falls ArgusLeader. Herbert Hoover promised “a chicken in every pot” in his 1928 presidential campaign. In 2006, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds eventually wants a laptop computer in the hands of every high school student. While the chicken was a symbol that families would prosper under Hoover, the benefits of laptops are lauded in a similar way – that all students would have an opportunity to learn more with technology. While Rounds’ $4 million laptop initiative will start next fall as a pilot program for about 5,000 of the state’s high school students, a central question remains in South Dakota and in other states that have spent millions to put laptops in students’ hands: Do they really help learning and test scores? “We believe it will enhance student achievement in a number of ways,” said Mitchell Superintendent Joe Graves, who wants to be part of the state program. “Technology is becoming ubiquitous in our society
