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That right implies their best opportunity to learn is using digital medium. It provides unlimited scope and opportunities to learners of all ages, yet we still have a number of educational and political leaders searching for a rationale that supports young learners having their own laptop.

Even more concerning are those whose thinking is influenced primarily by a technology or political imperative. This has given rise to initiatives built around e-book readers, or ‘incapacitated’ tablets, at the expense the empowerment that a child gains from having a computing device, but it has lead to initiatives whose success is being driven by the weight of big numbers. Neither shows any real understanding of the impact that an effective universal technology access program can have on schools, teachers, and most importantly, students.

The core question is simple….

• What does ubiquitous access to technology now make possible for learners?

• What expectations should we have for young learners in a technology-rich learning environment?

• Is it in fact possible that we are now compromising the educational opportunities of our young learners who do not have 1 to 1 access to their own personal technologies?

With all the hype around new devices and form factors, there is now even more urgency for school leaders to be better informed about the decisions they must make around technology access and use in schools. We need to dig deep and explore some of the ideas that are building even more compelling reasons for young learners to have access to their own personal portable computer. It’s about time that we challenged some of our current assumptions about how we are using technology in our schools, and identified the imperatives that make ubiquitous access to technology a priority for all learners.

Share your stories

Over the coming months I hope those of you who are working in a technology-rich learning environment share those stories, and together we can work to help others better understand the benefits and opportunities it provides. Much of the work to date around 1 to 1, has been built around the 21 Steps to 21st century Learning program that was developed by Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation developed in association with several Australian Ministries and has been successfully the basis for 1 to 1 implementation in thousands of schools around the world. But this work is ongoing, and it is important that we use this blog forum to share the good, the bad and the ugly, so that many more may benefit from our experiences.

I look forward to your thoughts, ideas, and comments,

Bruce