Portable laptops or computer suites?

Currently there is a debate over whether an ICT suite is more effective than portable laptops. There are many positives and negatives of both and so perhaps introducing a mix may be the best option?

Portable computers offer flexibility which means that ICT lessons can take place anywhere in the school. Plus, using laptops, there is more chance to incorporate ICT into a variety of lessons across the curriculum so that ICT lessons do not have to be a separate lesson, in which it is the only chance for children to improve their computer skills.

As well as this, there are more opportunities for using wireless as you don’t need to keep to your slot in the suite. Plus, the children can also access all their classroom resources during the lesson. From my experience, some ICT suites have a double function due to lack of space within the school which will reduce the time used for ICT even more.

One more positive of laptops is the possibility of children being able to take them home to complete their homework on if they do not have the resources at home. The only risk with this is that parents need to be made aware that the child may be able to access the internet so they need to make sure they are monitoring their child’s use.

However, on the negative side, there are the health risks of portable laptops that have been highlighted. There has not been enough time to conduct effective research on this issue and so it is still very contentious. Therefore, using a mix of both laptops and a suite, will reduce the amount of time that children have to be using the laptops and give them another option.

As well as this, there is a much higher risk of damage to the computers in a portable trolley than in a suite. Plus, parts or computers may get lost as they are constantly being moved around the school. The more portable laptops there are, the more likely this is to happen. As these are a very expensive pieces of equipment, this is a negative that all schools need to be aware of.

Therefore, there are positives and negatives of both a suite and the laptops so a combination of both could prove to be the most successful way…however; I suppose it could be argued that if you have both, then you also have the negatives of both as well.