Columbiana to expand laptop computer use

COLUMBIANA - A pilot program through which some high school students have been working on miniature laptop computers most likely will be expanding to the highest two grade levels in the fall.

Superintendent Don Mook announced Tuesday before the Board of Education that he is expecting the 1:1 (One to One) program, which began with teacher Jayson Yeagley's English classes, to be extended to the entire junior and senior classes.

The laptops, or Netbooks, cost between $325 and $350, and Mook expects the cost will continue to fall. While the school district has other options for paperless classrooms, such as full-size laptops or Apple iPod Touches, he said the Netbooks offer a good battery life and low cost in a lightweight, portable package.

"You make the right choice for today because tomorrow's going to change," he described the process of selecting the right hardware.

Yeagley's students in the pilot program have been creating weekly podcasts and other technological presentations in place of traditional pen-and-paper homework assignments. He told the board in February that students have been putting more effort into their work not only because it incorporates technology but because it is available for the world to see and hear on the Internet, with names removed to protect their identities.

"We need to get our kids that are going to college, that are going into the work force, and really get them to expand those skills," the superintendent said.

He also noted he is leaning toward a purchase of the Netbooks rather than leasing them, which, based on the life expectancy of the units, would allow graduating students to purchase the units on which they had been working at a reduced price.

Mook's primary concern with the computers is the life expectancy of the machines and their batteries, but he said the school could stock rolling stations with additional batteries and charges so students do not lose their work in the middle of the school day.

The meeting also included a technological presentation from fifth-grade teacher Ron Moser on paperless testing using remote units. The units allow a teacher to place questions on a screen at the front of the class and have students respond, tallying their scored automatically.

The machines can use true-and-false and multiple-choice questions as well as questions in which multiple answers appear on the screen and the students must pick out all the answers that apply to the question. It also creates a pie chart for each question, showing the breakdown of how students answered.

Technology has improved over the earlier models, and Moser said students no longer have to point the units directly at the receiver for their answers to register.

"It gives you some instant feedback, allows you to assess your class ... and the kids have the chance to interact with their lessons," Mook praised the program.

mschomer@mojonews.com