Open 24 hours... but not in a row!

We are a one-to-one laptop school
- just not all at the same time ;)

I work in a school that does not have a one-to-one laptop program. Belmont Hill is an all boys independent school for grades 7-12. We are committed to a traditional education, while still being alive to innovation. This is my first year here and I have been thinking a lot about whether we should go one-to-one. The more I think about it, however, the less I am convinced that one-to-one is the way for us to go.

We have 3 computer labs, and 2 carts of laptops available to 425 students. For the most part, almost every student has at least one networked computer at home. In a world of cloud computing, where tools like Google Apps make word processing, spreadsheets and presentations easy to access no matter where you are, do kids really need to lug a machine back and forth to school? My students log plenty of screen time. Of course I am committed to using technology in the classroom, but do students really need computers in every class every day? That, in addition to the fact that our school does not have lockers (picture backpacks carried and dropped haphazardly across campus), keeps me questioning.

I know this may sound crazy coming from a technology evangelist. What do you think? Am I totally out of line? Or do I have a point?

Image Source: Open 24 Hours from the Flickr photostream of mag3737