Student Laptop ProgramRecommendation

We must prepare our students for the world they will inhabit, where computer literacy is not optional.

It falls to us to teach our students, regardless of family economics, to use technology effectively and ethically. This technological literacy is learned best

when students are engaged in authentic learning and assessment on a computer that they can access

anytime and anywhere.

1. Where we are

2. Where we need to be

3. How we will get there

4. How much it will cost

Where we are

Where we are now

Faculty have had laptops for ~4.5 years

Stable technology infrastructure has been in place for the same time period

Dedicated audio-visual has been in the classrooms for the past 1.5 years

Faculty are now fairly comfortable using technology for their own teaching.

But they need more dedicated professional development to achieve full value

There has been much improvement in communication

by email and via websites, by faculty, and the school as a whole.

Fixed-location computer labs

classes go to thembut takes instructional time to walk to the labs

Laptop rolling carts

laptops go to classesbut cumbersome and time-consuming to set-up and return to the labs

Students cannot use the same computers each time

Students can only access computers during school-hours.

Where we need to be

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the top 10 jobs in demand in 2010 won’t have existed in 2004.

High Growth Industries, July 5, 2005.

More than 3,000 new books are published ...

Edward Tenner, US 1 Newspaper, May 12, 2004

. . . daily.

There are 540,000 words in the English language ...

5 times as many as in Shakespeare’s time

First lesson:

We are educating students for jobs that do not exist, using tools that have not been invented, to solve problems we’ve yet to identify.

To prepare our students for this, students must become life-long learners, capable of adapting to change.

They need not learn only facts and figures, but they must learn how to learn.

This is the realm of Constructivist Learning,

a belief that students build their own knowledge while engaged in active learning experiences.

Second lesson:

Life in this century requires additional knowledge and skills.

80% of voters say the things students need to learn today are different than 20 years ago.

Six in ten voters say US schools are not keeping pace with changing educational needs.

Almost nine in 10 voters (88%) believe 21st century skills can and should be part of the curriculum.

Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D Hart Research Associates, 2007.

We cannot teach discrete facts and hope those will be relevant and necessary when the first students affected by this recommendation enter the job market in 2017.

Core disciplines 21st Century skills

Language arts

World languages

Arts

Mathematics

Economics

Science

Geography

History

Government and civics

Digital-Age literacies

Expert and Inventive thinking

Complex communication

Leadership

Personal Integration and Productivity

Center for Catholic School Effectiveness,Loyola University Chicago

No Child Left Behind Act, 2001

There exists a digital divide that will influence who attains the 21st Century skills, and who does not.

To bridge the global digital divide, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation is selling $100 laptops to students in developing nations.

The same digital divide is present at SI . . .

78%

22%

2% of our students do not have their own computer

Home Technology Survey, SI, 2007.

81%

19%

Only 19% of our students have a computer that isnew enough to do what would be asked on them, and

that they can bring to school.

Home Technology Survey, SI, 2007.

Not all of our students have access to practice the technology skills that they will need in college and beyond.

Other schools, however, have been providing universal access to such technology ...

The first high school began its laptop program in 1990.

Methodists Ladies College, Melbourne, AU

Locally, Urban High school has had a student laptop program since 2002,

freshmen & sophomores at Moreau Catholic have laptops,

Bishop O’Dowd will begin a program this Fall,

St. Joseph’s in Alameda expects laptops within 3 years, and Serra High School within 4 years

How we will get there

All students at Saint Ignatius will have their own laptops.

These will be provided to in-coming freshmen

Purchased by the school, each family pays back one-fourth of the price each year

Recommendation

In conjunction, the school would hire an Educational Technologist to serve under the Director of Professional Development and work with the faculty on integration of student laptops into the curriculum.

The educational technologist will:

• collaborate with teachers on implementing technology into curriculum;

• structure technology education of students, faculty and staff;

• make recommendations regarding hardware and software purchases;

• provide trouble-shooting on a limited basis;

• identify trends in software, curriculum, teaching strategies, and new resources; and

• create learning experiences for teachers, staff, and students.

Barbara Chamberlin, University of Virgina

In a year of preparation, our professional development energies will be focused into:

school visitations by faculty,

seminars & workshops for faculty, and

visiting consultants.

Example:

EduCon 2.0Philadelphia, PAJanuary 25-27

Orientation programs will be developed for in-coming

freshmen and

their parents.

Criteria for success will be set, based on the

National Educational Technology Standards, and

evaluated through surveys, observations, and assessment of student work.

How much it will cost

Start-up CostsStart-up Estimate $1.03-1.13m

Technology:

Data Center Upgrade $0 (already done)

Additional network cabling upgrades $100k

New network hardware (above current plan) $500k

New servers (above current plan) $100k

Network architecture and implementation services*

$250k/$150k

Additional support staff $77k

Ed Tech & Faculty professional development $100k

On-going CostsOn-going Operational Costs $321k

Technology

Increased infrastructure maintenance $125k

Support staff salary x2 (w/ benes @22%) $140k

Educational Technologist salary (w/benes) $100k

Avoided Costs

Support of 113 desktop computers’ ($44k)

Annual cost per student ($321k/1425) $225

Financial Aid Requirement

Laptop cost for 20% on financial aid:

(350 x .2) x $2600 $182k

$182,000 / 1425 $128

We must prepare our students for the world they will inhabit, where computer literacy is not optional.

It falls to us to teach our students, regardless of family economics, to use technology effectively and ethically. This technological literacy is learned best

when students are engaged in authentic learning and assessment on a computer that they can access

anytime and anywhere.

Research

Improved student language arts, math, and science scores

12th grade students in one Maine school that had laptops all 4 high school-years outscored 85% of their peers in all five areas of the Main Educational Assessment

Lemke and Martin, 2003

In Pleasanton, students at Harvest Park Middle School all had laptops and scored 6-13% higher than others in their age group in the same school district on language arts and mathematics.

Overall GPAs were higher, as was the quality of their writing.

Gulek and Demirtas, 2005

37,000 students in 45 schools across 2 districts in Virgina:

13-point increase in SAT

Lowest dropout rate and highest attendance rate in history

Better return on technology investment (one hour a week labs did not result in student gains)

One-to-One Computing in Virginia, 2004