Netbooks on the rise: European overview of national laptop and netbook initiatives in schools
Date: November 2010
Author: Anja Balanskat, Valentina Garoia
Affiliation: European Schoolnet
Keywords: Europe, Government
Summary:
The report Netbooks on the rise: European overview of national laptop and netbook initiatives in schools is now published on Insight. The report is drafted on the basis of the information provided by Ministries in the Country Reports and aims at giving a general overview of national initiatives providing laptops/notebooks or netbooks to schools as identified in a number of European countries.
Based on the belief that personal ownership of computing devices (e.g. netbooks, handhelds or mobiles) is highly motivating for students and also for teachers, the latest national ICT programmes increasingly focus on 1:1 initiatives by providing personal notebooks and netbooks to students, teachers and families. 1:1 computing is a new phenomenon in educational settings, indicating the ratio of items per user, i.e. one netbook per learner and referring to the current trend of low-cost computer devices, ranging from mobiles and handhelds to netbooks. Even though laptops are not a new phenomenon in educational settings, several European countries have started in the last years to invest further in low-cost computer devices, and netbook initiatives are developing more and more in schools and other educational contexts. Moreover, at European level, European Schoolnet, in cooperation with Acer, is involved in a netbook initiative, which started early in 2010. The Acer-European Schoolnet Educational Netbook Pilot is aimed at understanding and documenting how learners and teachers can use netbooks in various educational contexts. The aim is to explore how the introduction of netbooks and 1:1 pedagogy in schools could change teaching and learning processes. Until June 2010 the pre-pilot involved 10 classes in 6 countries (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Turkey), while the full deployment phase will run from September 2010 to June 2011 involving 40 classes in each country (www.netbooks.eun.org).
The information provided in this report is based on European Schoolnet's country reports for ICT in education, mainly from the 2009-2010 edition but also from previous years, issued by European Schoolnet for representatives of Ministries of Education. Other initiatives were identified through desk research and additional submissions by Ministries or responsible authorities. All initiatives were described according to a common framework and validated by Ministries of Education or the organization involved in the initiative.
Source Article: http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/policy/policies/netbook_on_the_rise__european_.htm
