Laptops in schools (Score 4)

You've dedicated the recent years of your life to education, and I'd like to hear (a lot) from you about the appropriate use of technology in education. Specifically, pioneering schools (including my sons') are requiring the use of laptop computers; in our case, starting in seventh grade, all students are required to carry a laptop all the time. I'm not convinced that laptops even belong in a classroom, much less in the hands of a seventh graders, and would like your take on these points:

1) Student maturity - at what point are students mature enough to carry a computer around without wasting endless hours on desktop frills, games, and chat? Seventh grade seems too early to me.

2) Faculty training - excellent schools have excellent teachers with many years of teaching experience; most of them don't have a clue about computers. How do we retain and retrain our great teachers while introducing technology into our students' academic lives?

3) What is an appropriate level of computer science to introduce into junior high? high school? What languages have been successful in this age group? I've had great experiences building website with fifth and sixth graders through the Thinkquest Junior organization. What other activities are age appropriate?

Best wishes and many thanks for all your contributions,

Rich Ackerman