November 2007 — News
Print this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
Kansas School District Rolls Out 1:1 MacBook Program
In one of the poorer districts in the Kansas City, KS metropolitan area--where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches--administrators and school board members have launched a project to ensure that their students have all the technological advantages that wealthier students have in their education. The district serving that area, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), is giving every high school student and teacher a laptop for use in the classroom and at home--and not just any laptop, but dual-core Intel-based MacBook laptops from Apple, which were distributed to students Nov. 6 and 7 district-wide, about 5,400 systems total.
Technology for Achievement
KCKPS, in Wyandotte County, has experienced a turnaround in achievement of late and, according to district spokesman David A. Smith, assistant to the superintendent for communications, wants to continue investing in its students to raise achievement even higher. Ten years ago, student proficiency in math and reading were at 11 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Both of those have shot up to 53 percent. But that isn't enough.
"We've demonstrated that we can really impact proficiency," Smith said. "Additional technology will accelerate what we're trying to do at the secondary level."
Part of that process will include laptop systems to help students with their studies and with their technological fluency by giving them the tools that they'll use at the college and professional levels. The district had set up computer labs in its schools, but scheduling time in the labs was difficult, sometimes impossible, owing to testing that takes place in those labs. With their own laptops, students can have unfettered, 24-hour access to technology for learning--curriculum-oriented and otherwise.
On the curriculum side, students will be able to use the systems for classroom studies, for accessing assignments and related materials, for conducting online research, and for using online learning aids. Beyond the classroom, students will be able to use the laptops to explore the technologies and to become producers of media and information themselves.
Students 'Not Just Consumers'
That's one of the reasons the district went with Mac OS X-based systems for the 1:1 laptop program. Smith said he envisions students getting creative with their computers, and the Mac-based systems come fully loaded with a full suite of creative software in the form of iLife, which includes DVD production software (iDVD), an NLE (iMovie), and a full podcasting and music production environment (GarageBand).
"We expect [students] to be producers of information, not just consumers," Smith said. Individual schools and teachers will be developing projects with students that include video editing, DVD authoring, podcasting, and creating other forms of art and digital media. "[The MacBooks] come ready out of the box with programs students can use immediately to start doing things creatively."
