Alan November has a good post on one-to-one laptop program lashback. Here is a quote:
First of all we should never call any program a “Laptop Program”. We certainly do not have pencil and paper programs. As soon as a school or district places the focus on the technology I believe it is doomed to fail.
The research is all over the place on this topic. Most say there is no difference in student learning with laptops or without laptops. The larger problem is number of variables in the equation. Giving each student a laptop will not make a difference if the teacher uses the same instructional techniques as in a laptop-less class. The assignments must be different. Students must be involved in determining how the learning process materializes. The role of the teacher is dramatically different. November defines the teacher as someone who builds learning communities.
The article gives a list of institutional changes that should take place before a laptop program is initiated. Training teachers to use technology is one small step toward revamping the educational processes involved when instituting a project as complex as a laptop program. In fact, the technical training is probably the easiest step to complete.