ONE-TO-ONE: More than 700 laptops issued to students

MOLLY SKYLES
Assistant Editor

RED OAK — Red Oak students and parents were at school a week before classes officially begin. They weren’t taking summer school classes or in trouble with the principal. No, excited families filled the high school three nights last week for the distribution of almost 700 new Dell laptop computers as part of the One-to-One laptop initiative.

The program, which is for students in middle and high school, began two years ago after members of the School Board of Directors and school technology department attended a national conference where they learned of One-to-One programs happening across the country. They then spent the next two years improving the schools infrastructure, including upgrading the school’s wireless capabilities and servers and increasing bandwidth.

Red Oak Superintendent Terry Schmidt said they visited and spoke with other schools that implemented a One-to-One program to help figure out what was best for the district. Griswold has a partial One-to-One program as well as Bedford, but Red Oak is the only larger district in this area, according to Schmidt.

“Our number one goal is to create as much engagement in learning as possible and to create more learning,” Schmidt said. “The world operates as a digital world, not everything is printed on pages anymore, and we need to make sure our students know how to use the tools.”  

Technology Director Bob Deter said aside from the importance of technology in today’s society, providing a one-to-one computer/student ratio has other benefits. He explained research has proven participation, test scores and attendance increase and drop out rates and disciplinary actions decrease.

Printing also decreases, which Deter said could lead to cost savings.

Once they had a vision and proper infrastructure, funding was the next step.

The money came through the one cent sales tax that goes into the Physical Plant and Property Levy. A vote on the Revenue Purpose Statement three years ago allowed this money to be used toward technology and new equipment.

Schmidt said it would cost almost $1 million to buy the new computers outright, a number they wouldn’t be able to afford with just sales tax funds.

After reviewing many options, the district decided to lease the laptops on three-year contracts for a total of $550,000. They then could return them at the end of the contract and get upgrades so the students continually have the latest technology.  

All of the laptops come equipped with safeguards and blocking systems to ensure the students are safe and only looking at appropriate material. Deter said some restrictions will ease after school hours, including those blocking social networking and gaming sites. The computers also come with tracking devices in case a laptop is lost or stolen.

This new technology will have a major effect on teaching and learning, changing both the student and teachers’ role in the classroom. There will be more interactive work, including online discussions between students and teachers and posting and turning in assignments online.  Deter said they will ease into this change with traditional lectures still occurring in most classes.

Eventually, though, Deter hopes the district can become completely paperless and even switch to online textbooks, something he said students today are well-prepared for.

“These kids have never lived in a world without technology, and they come to school and are asked to turn off their cell phones and iPods,” Deter said. “Technology is how they feel connected, and we were asking them to step backwards. So now the schools are finally getting caught up with the students.”

High school science teacher Deb Blomstedt said while a lot is going to change in terms of teaching, some things will stay the same. For example, labs will always be a part of the class period and there will occasionally be traditional lectures using the white board rather than the laptops. She said she plans to eventually link the students to various websites and even other schools’ websites to increase the available research tools.

“We want kids to become independent learners,” Blomstedt said. “They already are good about looking things up online, but we want to push them to further evaluate their findings and teach them the ethics behind researching.”

The computers were distributed at three sessions last week. Excited students and parents filled the high school auditorium as Deter highlighted key information regarding online safety and laptop care. The district insured the computers for accidental damages, but in the event of gross negligence on the student’s part, the parent or legal guardian could be charged the cost of repair or replacement depending on the number of incidents and degree of damage.

Following the information session, the students separated so they could pick up their new technology and log on for the first time while the parents stayed for a question and answer session with Deter and Schmidt.

“This is amazing; it’s been a long time coming,” said Tonya Currin, mother of two high school students. “There are so many times they both need to do homework and we only have one computer. This will end the fighting.”

Currin added the laptops will also improve education because they will have all the information needed at their fingertips.