Ideally, every kid would have her own laptop or computer in the classroom. But in schools where that's not yet the case, resourceful teachers can still find ways to leverage some of the advantages of technology to engage learners -- even if there's just one ancient relic sitting in the corner of the classroom.
Setting up a website for the class where kids can work on specific lessons; creating blogs for each student, which they can update daily or weekly; posting images of students' work and recording their voices on the VoiceThread website; and collaborating on writing projects are just a few ways teachers can take advantage of just a single computer, according to teacher Mary Beth Hertz on her Edutopia blog.
For the educator, it's just a matter of organizing time. Hertz suggests creating a schedule allowing students to rotate on a 10-minute schedule every day. And for learners, it can go a long way in engaging them within a medium they're already comfortable with.