Following are some bubbling ideas in the one-to-one arena that seem close enough to the “tipping point” that they may come to pass in 2009, or very soon after.

Ultramobiles Adopted in More Schools
These are small computers but not quite hand-helds, think XO, Nova5000, Classmate, and the like. Most offer users the ability to draw or write on the screen. The upsides are price, portability, size, and for many models, durability.  The downsides are: capacity (the O/Ss are often Windows CE and don’t run all applications; they often skimp on RAM and hard drive space); and keyboarding (which occurs either on the screen by tapping or typing, which takes away real estate for other work) or separately (plugged in or via Bluetooth) – although a few smaller category computers do have a keyboard.  Here’s a tweet from Bud Hunt who I follow on Twitter and respect a lot, “So if a 9 inch Touch were a reality, would there be sufficient means of hooking it up to a keyboard? Otherwise, it's mostly for consumption.”  The death of typing has been predicted for quite some time, but much like reports about Mark Twain and others, that demise is premature.  Still, I’ve seen teachers and students love the potential ultramobiles offer for projects, writing, research, drawing, sharing, publishing, and collaborating. 

Bandwidth Tackled
Solving this completely is iffy but needed. There isn’t enough bandwidth here in the US compared to other countries. The cost of high-speed Internet to homes remains high for many families, but without home access and sufficient bandwidth in schools and at home, one-to-one’s possibilities are stifled. President-Elect Obama has stated upgrading our Internet access is a high priority. This may come from the 100X100 project, via WiMAX or from other technologies being developed, but the time is nigh.

Obama Transition Team Considers a One-to-One Focus for Schools
I happen to know this is already occurring as the transition team has contacted Don Knezek of ISTE who asked several of us for input.  My hope is that the new administration runs with it and understands how important it is for our children to have use of powerful learning assistants at their fingertips for home and school, and that the development of 21^st century learning and citizenship is a high priority.

Cloud Computing and Portals More Widely Adopted
One-to-one is only as good as what you do with it.  Forming a living learning community, with collaboration and communication, reachable from home or school or anywhere, is possible when your computing is in the cloud (read: the Internet.)  Google apps, Zoho and others offer this possibility and Microsoft’s Azure opens up more potential; usually there will be a cost savings over purchasing multiple copies of productivity software.  President-Elect Obama’s new Education chief, Arne Duncan, brought FirstClass to Chicago’s public school district.  While FirstClass isn’t totally in the cloud (the best version has a desktop client), it does offer a portal and can connect teachers, students, parents with a power learning community/portal.  All schools with one-to-one ought to provide and nurture a learning community or portal for all students, teachers, and parents.

Apple Tablet and Improved Inking Technology
Rumors say that the reason Apple hasn’t released a tablet is that Steve Jobs isn’t happy with current tablet ink technology.  This could be the year that tablet ink gets up to snuff and the iTouch gets a big brother called iTablet.  Apple is great at design, has increased their installed base, and is one of the most viable companies in our precarious times.  An iTablet could provide a path to tablets for Apple schools, and an interesting (albeit complicated) option for Windows schools.

Virtual Schools Become the Newest large Consumers of One-to-One Hardware and Services
Virtual schools’ students can: learn from their homes or anywhere; recover credits needed (students who for various reasons need to make up missed work outside of brick-and-mortar schools and schedules); choose from more course offerings for enrichment (for instance Mandarin or other less commonly-taught languages); and maximize their learning styles (the student who needs a different pace or structure for learning.) When the computer used by teachers or students is a laptop or a tablet, flexibility results.  Hardware manufacturers will likely see more demand for laptops or tablets by organizations starting virtual schools.  Smart companies will be bundling local Internet access, infrastructure, home technical support and hardware repair, and offering packages for reselling to virtual school organizations. It’s time, however, for teaching colleges to require online teaching as a course before granting a degree so that all teachers are adept at engaging students virtually.

Mobile Labs Will Increase
The cost of wiring a standalone computer lab and purchasing desktop computers compared to a cart of laptops or tablets with several wireless access points allowing use from a variety of locations, will continue to make mobile carts the preferred “lab” in schools and districts. 

Continuing Strained Budgets
This is an unfortunate reality and schools and districts will be examining every expenditure, including those supporting one-to-one.  It’s my prediction that the schools and districts who have made one-to-one an integral, vital, necessary and transparent element in teaching and learning will find a way to continue to fund all aspects of one-to-one.

Best wishes for a terrific 2009.  Feel free to comment here or email me directly, I am always happy to talk about one-to-one.

Pamela Livingston is a technology educator and author of the best-selling book,"1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work."

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