Fintelo : Online Solution

Source: www.courierpress.com

By: John Martin

Revolutionary change is coming to high schools in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. this year — the introduction of computers as day-to-day teaching tools.

EVSC officials say the move is an acknowledgment that today’s students are immersed in technology and learn differently than previous generations.

They say other schools with one-to-one laptops now consider them an indispensable part of education.

But while the corporation has tried to focus on the program’s benefit, some parents have expressed concerns, most of which have dealt with costs and liability.

The rental fee is $70 for the school year. For this year, that cost will be in addition to textbook fees.

The EVSC says that in the future, it will be taking a year-to-year look at what textbooks still are needed for classroom use.

“We have computer and Internet access at home, and (the cost of) books is enough to come up with,” said Robin Fetscher, whose twins attend Reitz High School. “To me, it’s money I don’t have to spend when I have computers at home and labs at school.”

Brad Byers, whose child will be a North High School freshman, sees the advantage of laptops but also has questions.

“It’s a good idea, but what scares me is what the responsibility is to us if these things break, or something happens to them,” he said.

“You’re putting a lot of responsibility on kids. But I think it’s going to help them out a lot.”

Harrison High School parent Jack Stucki said he disagrees that laptops in schools will improve education.

“It didn’t take laptops to put men on the moon,” Stucki said. “I think the school corporation is missing the mark altogether with these things.”

EVSC high school students will get their laptops at the same time they pick up their textbooks.

Contrary to what the school corporation had announced earlier, students will not need a parent or guardian with them to pick up the computers.

EVSC made the change because policies governing the laptops will be identical to those of textbooks, and parents have never had to sign for textbooks, said Marsha Jackson, the EVSC’s communications director.

As with textbooks, students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch will not have to pay the rental fee.

The rollout of the EVSC’s new laptop program was announced in May, with little fanfare.

Bids for the machines were advertised, and on June 8 the School Board bought 7,200 Hewlett Packard Mini 2140 netbooks from Matrix Integration of Jasper, Ind.

Liability concerns raised by parents prompted the corporation to make an insurance option available. Information about that will be distributed with the machines.

The transition to laptops will be an adjustment for EVSC teachers, as well as for students. Training for teachers is being offered.

Teachers such as Teri Sanders of Reitz are excited about the program and said parents and students will see the benefits.

Sanders will be integrating laptops at many levels of instruction. She said the technology will enable students to work together on projects in ways that weren’t possible before and bring unprecedented resources to students’ fingertips.

“Let me tell you, this is a dream come true for me,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve made a mistake in adding these at all. This is what the future job market is going to be.”

Bosse High School English teacher Missy Feller said the laptops and accompanying ANGEL Learning software, which is a blackboard system, will give students a preview of college learning environments.

“One of the main benefits teachers are going to have is it will save so much paper. Students will be able to do assignments electronically.”

Computer labs in schools are not a suitable substitute for constant Internet access, Feller said.

“In most high schools, Bosse included, there’s only one or two computer labs, and those are for 1,500 to 1,800 students to use. It’s very difficult to predict when you’ll need access.”

Feller agreed with Sanders that the laptops reflect a new era in education.

“I remember when I was a student at Bosse, when we did a research project we would bus to Central Library and walk around the aisles for hours,” Feller said. “This is a lot more efficient.”