School Boards Association Spearheads Successful 1 to 1 Learning Program

Apple 1 to 1 Learning

Leadership by the Book

When the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) began considering a 1 to l learning initiative, they knew they’d need a very compelling argument to convince their State legislature to fund the program. Accordingly, the AASB first purchased 25 copies of New York Times “Foreign Affairs” columnist Thomas Friedman’s book, The World Is Flat, and distributed them to the leadership of the State’s Education and Finance committees. In his book, Friedman describes how the 21st-century globalization of the world’s economy, and the role all countries now play in the supply chain for services and manufacturing, requires governments and societies to adapt.

The AASB then followed up with appearances before the legislature in which they discussed technology’s role in this “flattening” world. Additionally, they created podcasts that focused on the need for digital literacy in the state’s schools, and held in-person events that spotlighted the success of the Denali Borough School District, which had rolled out a 1 to 1 learning program based on Apple notebook computers in the fall of 2004.

“We handed out the [World is Flat] book; we testified before both houses of the legislature; we put together a podcast, and we visited people. And when we shared our vision for successfully putting technology in the schools through 1 to 1 learning, everyone got it, real quick.”

— Carl Rose, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards

Apple and Denali Show the Way

Thanks to the AASB’s efforts, a $5 million appropriation from the State of Alaska helped to fund a 1 to 1 learning initiative for K-12 students in nearly 50 pilot school sites in 18 districts. Next, a visit to Apple in Cupertino helped AASB members learn first-hand how Apple could provide total solutions for education. Positive feedback from Denali’s school board also made it easy to determine the ideal computing platform. “We realized that Apple was best suited for where we were going,” says Carl Rose, AASB executive director. “Plus, it was helpful to see how Denali had dealt with many of the issues our team had been discussing.”

Alaska’s 1 to 1 learning initiative was officially launched in the fall of 2006 with the distribution of nearly 3000 MacBook computers to students and staff. Since then, AASB has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of every district, and support educators and students as they acquire digital literacy skills. “I think the advantage of having the AASB coordinating this effort is that we now have systems in place, and we can offer a solution that works,” says Bruce Johnson, director of Alaska’s Consortium for Digital Learning. “We’re not just making this up as we go along. We really listen to experts in the field, like Apple.”