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District plans for portable learning
By Michelle Alaimo
Students participating in Fremont Union High School District's Anytime Anywhere Learning pilot program this fall will need to buy more than just pencils and paper for class--they'll also need a laptop computer.
"This is not just about technology, but a better way to provide instruction," FUHSD superintendent Joe Hamilton said. "We need to be able to put this tool in the hands of students, who are going to school, so that they can make some use of the technology that people in the workplace are using."
Lynbrook and Homestead high Schools join more than 500 public and private schools nationwide participating in the Anytime Anywhere Learning program, which was launched by Microsoft and Toshiba in 1996. While several school districts statewide participate in the program, the FUHSD is the first district in Santa Clara County to do so.
The two digital high schools plan to offer a core of ninth-grade classes that rely on students and teachers using the laptop as a teaching tool. Advanced placement calculus classes at Monta Vista High School, also, will participate in the program.
"I think eventually that something like this will be an invaluable as a textbook, or a notebook," said Scott DeRuiter, who teaches AP Calculus at Monta Vista.
Participation in the pilot program is voluntary. However, participants must purchase a laptop. Michael Isbutt, director of educational technology for FUHSD, estimated that a basic-model laptop will cost parents about $1,500. While no particular make is required, the laptop will be required to have Office 2000 installed on it, Isbutt said.
Principals at LHS and HHS are currently pitching the program to the parents of incoming ninth-graders. So far, about 50 families have indicated interest in the program. The schools will hold meetings in April, with parents who have expressed an interest.
Isbutt said the Fremont Foundation has scholarships available for those students who want to participate but can't afford to buy a laptop. The district is working with Toshiba to purchase laptops at a discounted prices.
Districts will use Digital High School Grants to purchase laptops for teachers participating in the program, Isbutt said. Monte Vista is able to participate because the school already owns several laptops purchased with schools funds, he said.
Fremont's district officials have been working almost three years to implement the program, Hamilton said. He and others in the district have traveled to other school districts that use the program to witness first- hand how it works. So far, Hamilton said, he has heard nothing but praise from teachers on the benefits of using laptops in the classroom.
Paulson said some of the benefits include improvements in student writing, critical thinking and classroom participation. Since the laptops are wireless, Paulson said, students can take and use their computers anywhere, hence the program's name.
Paulson said many teachers at other districts who use laptops find grading assignments easier because they can pass a disk around the room and have students save their homework on it. Also, teachers are able to write comments in red within the students work and return it to them for easy viewing. Other teachers hope the addition of a laptop to the classroom will help make learning more exciting for the student, and breathe new life into their teaching skills.
"It's something that I'm really excited about because it will help energize my teaching," DeRuiter said.
An independent study of the Anytime Anywhere Learning program by Rockman et al of San Francisco confirmed the results teachers and administrators hoped to achieve. The study of those using laptops in the 1997-1998 school year found a large number of benefits, among them, an indication that laptop students spent more time doing homework than non-laptop students. Researchers also found that students' writing improved, because of the ease of writing and editing. The study stated that teachers found grading easier, and that classes had become more student- centered rather than teacher-centered.
While the pilot program is starting out with about 60 students at each Digital High campus, Hamilton hopes to expand the program to the sophomore level next year. He said the district will take the program slowly, to work out all the kinks. He eventually hopes to see every student in the district own a laptop, he said.
"It's one of the things that I think needs to happen in the future of school districts," Hamilton said.
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