Future of Educational Education - Beyond the Classroom
Karon Tarver

Public and private K-12 institutions across the country are scrambling to find ways to decrease the Digital Divide. A very important trend is the move to provide every student with wireless laptops and saturate the students' educational day with Internet interactivity and curriculum integration of technologies. The efforts of such initiatives as Anytime, Anywhere Learning are geared toward such a future environment. Research also indicates that additional benefits from such programs include increased familial involvement and Internet acclamation. Anytime, anywhere learning promotes a student-centered and active model of instruction. The focus is not on the technology, but on meaningful curriculum. Students use their computers where they can enhance the learning process, and learn new computer skills within this context.

Research into laptop learning environments, conducted by the independent research firm, Rockman, ET AL of San Francisco has shown exciting results.

• Laptops increase access to information and improve research and analysis skills.
  
• Laptops lead to more student writing and to writing of higher quality.

For more details about the nature and findings of this research see:

http://www.microsoft.com/education/aal/research.asp

The funding of such initiatives is a major barrier to providing students with laptops. To assist in the initiative grants, business partners, and parental purchasing plans have and will continue to develop to be not only important but integral as the face of education becomes less programmatic and more student centered.