I'm lucky to be at a school that has three computer labs (with desktop pcs) as well as a mobile lab (with Chromebooks), which is new this year. The Chromebooks were purchased to alleviate some of the demands on the computer labs - it can be difficult to get five classes in on the same day unless you reserve them far in advance - and the first time I used them, I wasn't thinking a whole lot about what might be qualitatively different about a mobile lab and a desktop lab. I just wanted my students to have access to computers so they could work on a group presentation to be delivered the next day.
What I noticed though, is that there was a significant difference in the depth and effectiveness of their cooperation because we were not in one of the labs. In our labs, the computers are arranged on tables in rows either across the room or around the perimeter. Students are physically locked into those arrangements by the preponderance of cords and cables. Bringing the laptops to them allowed them to stay in the groups they were in (my classroom consists of four groups of six desks in a table arrangement) so that as they worked, they could easily consult with a partner without getting up from their tables. In the lab, they would likely have assigned each person a role or a slide to work on, and then worked separately; in the classroom, grouped together and in a space where they're more accustomed to working, their efforts were more consistently and genuinely collaborative. Another advantage was that staying in the room meant more resources were available to them: notes and posters hung on the wall, and their portfolios with prior work, for example. Additionally, it was easier for me to see immediately who was working with whom and whether anyone was disengaged from the group.
I had spent more time considering how what the students did together would be different because of the Chromebooks, but not as much time anticipating how their process would change. It was very cool to see.
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