Middle-school and high-school students and teachers are discovering how learning can be enhanced when they use mobile laptop computers. Over 400 seventh-grade students and teachers were issued laptop computers from the state this year through the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. Twenty laptop computers are now available for classroom use at the high school; teachers borrow them from the high-school library. All laptops are stored in locking cabinets for safekeeping and for recharging. The beauty of these computers is that they bring technological tools and Internet resources to students’ fingertips when and where they need them, without requiring cable connections to power and a network.
Seventh graders at the middle school have used their laptops to create animated movies, to explore careers, to research information, to write (including creating concept maps, writing in journals, and editing their written work using word processing software), to create multimedia presentations, to test themselves on basic facts and skills, and to conduct virtual experiments. Teachers and students communicate and exchange work through email. Questions and answers are no longer limited to in-class time; communication is more ongoing and less limited. Next year, the state will issue all eighth graders as well as seventh graders laptop computers to use.
Making effective use of all of these new wireless laptop computers requires staff training and technical support. Teachers who receive laptops through the state initiative receive an initial two days of training and access to workshops over the course of the year that focus on specific content areas. Lewiston teachers have also had access to workshops and courses offered by the school department that focus on effective educational uses of technology. More courses will be offered this summer. In addition, the middle school will develop and capitalize on student expertise by organizing and training an iTeam – a group of students that will help other students and teachers with technology questions and problems as the laptop program at the middle school grows.
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