The document provides guidance for lecturers and students on planning and managing laptop use in the classroom. It advises lecturers to develop contingency plans, communicate expectations to students, monitor student laptop screens, and have students close laptops during non-laptop activities. Students are instructed to bring their ID cards and save work to memory sticks since laptop contents will be deleted. Lecturers must schedule laptop use in advance and attend an orientation. [END SUMMARY]

1. • As you are planning how the laptops will be used, develop a Plan B.
• If you don’t have one already, work on developing a flexible and “go
with the flow” disposition.
• Remind students to bring their UWI Student ID Cards and memory sticks
to class on days that the laptops will be used.
• Communicate expectations for how the laptops should be used to
students.
• If the laptops will be used from the beginning of class, save class time by
putting up a slide with instructions so students can get the laptops
prepared for the activity.
• Speak from behind students to monitor their screens.
• Ask students to close or lower the laptop monitors during activities that
do not require laptop use.
• End the class a few minutes early so that the laptops can be returned in
an orderly fashion.
• Monitor the care of the laptops as if they were your own.
Advice on planning and managing laptops in your
classroom
Tips for Lecturers
Laptop Cart Orientation
UWI School of Education ICT Professional Development
http://ictprofessionaldevelopment.wordpress.com
September 30, 2009
What activities can you
design to make your
technology-enhanced lessons
helps student explore the
connections between
technology, content, and
pedagogy? Here are some
ideas…
• Internet Searches
• WebQuests
• Concept mapping
• Wikis for capturing group
work
• Content/discipline
specific software
• Others _______________
_____________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
Ideas for Laptop Use
The School of Education has acquired 30 laptops that can be used by Lecturers to
facilitate technology-enhanced activities outside of the computer lab. The
information in this newsletter provides some tips and guidelines for Lecturers and
Students. It also outlines the policies and procedures that govern use of the
laptops.

2. 2
Microsoft Office 2007
Acrobat Reader
Roxio CD/DVD Creator
Google Earth
Inspiration
Windows Movie Maker
Podcast/Screencast Related
iTunes University (via
iTunes)
Audacity
Camtasia Studio 3
Photography Related
Photo Story 3 for Windows
Picasa 3
GIMP
Research Tools
QSR NVivo
SPSS 16.0
Audio/Video Players
QuickTime Player
Windows media Player
Web Browsers
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Safari
SeaMonkey
Web Page Design Software
SeaMonkey
Macromedia Dreamweaver
Software List
Reservations
• Because we have limited equipment, priority bookings will be given to classes
needing computers for the duration of the course, which cannot be accommodated
in our existing computer labs. The priority for all other bookings will be based
solely on a first request basis.
• Lecturers interested in using the laptops must attend an orientation at the start of
every semester.
• At least 48 hours prior to the class date, Lecturers should send an e-mail to the
SOE_AVTech group in Outlook to schedule their use of the laptops.The e-mail
should include the:
o Course code and title
o Class date, time and location
o Time the laptop should be picked up after class
• Note that Individual laptops cannot be reserved.
• A Technician will respond to the e-mail to confirm that the laptops have been
reserved.
• If there is a change in the schedule, Lecturer’s should inform the Technicians via
e-mail.
Receiving the Laptops
• Lecturers should meet the technicians in their classroom 15 minutes prior to the
start of class. Lecturers must have their id cards to sign-out the laptops.
• Technicians will inform Lecturers of known technical issues prior to signing out the
laptops.
• Lecturers checking out the laptop assume responsibility for the entire cart and its
contents.
• When laptops are distributed in class, they will be assigned to each student. To
facilitate this process, students must have their student identification cards.
• Laptops should not be removed from the classroom they are assigned to.
Using the Laptops
• Students should not save their work on the laptops, as the information will be
deleted upon restart.
• After the class is finished, the Lecturer should ask that students shut down and
reconnect each laptop to its assigned power cable in the cart.
Returning the Laptops
• 15 minutes prior to the end of class, a Technician will return to the class to
confirm that laptops have been shut down, reconnected, and secured.
Support
• It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the laptop cart is in good working
order.
• Lecturers should notify the Technicians if there are any technical issues with the
laptops as failure to do so may result in the next Lecturer experiencing problems.
Policies and Procedures
Accessing the Net
If the connection screen
appears when accessing the
Internet, students should
enter the following:
username: sastudents/id
number
Password: UWI password
(not the mySecure area
password)

3. 3
• In order to checkout a laptop, bring your UWI Student ID
Card to class.
• Arrive to class with sufficient time to checkout a laptop
before class begins.
• Reserve laptop use to activities related to class.
• During activities that do not require laptop use, close the
laptop or lower the monitor.
• Save your work on your memory stick, as all information
will be deleted from the laptops after they are shut
down.
• Take care of the laptop as if it were your own.
Guidelines for Students References
Efaw, J., Hampton, S., Martinez, S. (2004).
Miracle or menace: Teaching and learning
with laptop computers in the classroom.
Educause, 27(3), 10-18. Retrieved from
www.educause.edu/library/eqm0431
Waker, M., Roberts, S., Babcock, E. &
Colombo, M. (2004). Implications of a Laptop
Initiative in a Teacher Education Math
Program. In R. Ferdig et al. (Eds.),
Proceedings of Society for Information
Technology and Teacher Education
International Conference 2004 (pp. 3772-
3776). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved
from http://www.editlib.org/p/13466.
Scenarios for Discussion
Scenario 1
Lecturer A planned a dynamic lesson in which the students were asked to compare two internet sites on the same
topic using a set of questions that the class had jointly constructed. They were then asked to upload their findings
to a class wiki. Five minutes into the lesson a message arrived that the wireless network was being repaired and the
Internet could not be used for the rest of the day.
Scenario 2
Teacher B spent hours on Sunday preparing an exciting lesson. She wrote the website she wanted the students to
use in the lesson on the board. She didn’t intend to see the website until half way through the lesson but by the
time she’d noticed the students had already opened their computers and reached the site and were happily
navigating around it even though the rest of the site wasn’t related to the lesson.
Notes
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Scenarios adapted from the Leading my faculty website at:
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/digital_rev/leading_my_faculty/lo/laptop/index.htm