Closing
the book on an era
School shelves the texts and
hands out laptops
Friday, August 19, 2005 • BY ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
• ASSOCIATED PRESS
VAIL, Ariz. -- Students at Empire High
School here started class this year with no textbooks -- but
it wasn't because of a funding crisis.
Instead, the school issued iBooks --
laptop computers by Apple Computer Inc. -- to each of its
340 students, becoming one of the first U.S. public schools
to shun printed textbooks.
School officials believe the electronic
materials will get students more engaged in learning. Empire
High, which opened for the first time this year, was
designed specifically to have a textbook-free
environment.
"We've always been pretty aggressive in
use of technology and we have a history of taking risks,"
said Calvin Baker, superintendent of the Vail Unified School
District, which has 7,000 students outside of
Tucson.
Schools typically overlay computers onto
their instruction "like frosting on the cake," Baker said.
"We decided that the real opportunity was to make the
laptops the key ingredient of the cake. ... to truly change
the way that schools operated."
Two years ago, about 600 school districts
nationwide had pilot projects to provide laptops for each
student -- a figure that's likely doubled since then, said
Mark Schneiderman, director of federal education policy for
the Software and Information Industry Association in
Washington.
But most still issue textbooks -- for
now.
"Because most schools are not starting
from scratch ... most districts are using a blended approach
now and will phase out their printed textbooks," he
said.
For example, in the Henrico County school
system near Richmond, Va., students in 23 middle and high
schools will be using laptops for the fifth straight year,
though teachers still use textbooks, said spokesman Mychael
Dickerson.
Many publishers of traditional textbooks
are offering digital formats to address the growing use of
computers, and that provided some of the material for Empire
High's curriculum. Teachers also used subscription services
and free Web resources.
Students get the materials over the
school's wireless Internet network. The school has a central
filtering system that limits what can be downloaded on
campus. The system also controls chat room visits and
instant messaging that might otherwise distract wired
students.
Students can turn in homework online. A
Web program checks against Internet sources for plagiarized
material and against the work of other students, Baker said.
"If you copy from your buddy, it's going to get caught," he
said.
Before Empire High opened, officials
looked at the use of laptops in other schools and decided
that high school students were more engaged when using
computers. Unlike many adults, teens weaned on digital
material seem to have little difficulty adapting to reading
primarily on computer screens, Baker said.
But educators also decided they could do
more with the technology.
In addition to offering up-to-date
information, teachers can make the curriculum more dynamic.
For example, lessons in social studies, which might
previously have been done in summaries, can include links to
full Supreme Court rulings or an explorer's personal account
of a discovery.
Social studies teacher Jeremy Gypton said
the transition was easier than expected. Gypton said he
assigns readings based on Web sites, lists postings to news
articles, uses online groups and message boards to keep the
students connected on weekends and asks them to comment on
each other's work.
One of the more surprising things, he
said, was finding that students' proficiency at video games
and e-mail hasn't always translated into other computer
skills.
"One of the greatest challenges actually
is getting the kids up to speed in using Word, in using an
Internet browser for other than a simple global search,"
Gypton said.
All of Empire's students knew about the
laptop-only setup when they enrolled, and students who were
uncomfortable with it were allowed to enroll in the
district's other, more traditional schools. But Empire has a
waiting list.
Julian Tarazon, a freshman, said he
doesn't miss lugging around a bag full of books.
"It was kind of hard at first, because
you had to put things in folders," Julian said, referring,
naturally, to virtual folders on his computer's desktop.
"After a couple of days, you kind of get used to
it."
Freshman Morgan Northcutt said the
computer system has made it easier to do assignments, and
she isn't as likely to lose them.
"There's complications like hooking up
with the Internet, but other than that it's been pretty
easy," Morgan said.
The school isn't entirely paperless,
however. It has a library, and students are often assigned
outside reading.
"We're not trying to eliminate books,"
Baker said. "We love books."
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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