iBook Notebooks Ensure Equity of Learning in Michigan
Apple 1 to 1 Learning
“Since our students are children of the digital age, we need to use methods of teaching that are much more compelling, appropriate, and accessible. The iBook notebooks fit their modern-day world.”
— Peter Ways, Head of Technology Bond Initiative, Ann Arbor Public Schools
In June of 2004, Ann Arbor’s voters approved a massive bond measure aimed at upgrading the district’s technology infrastructure. Under the terms of the initiative, the district is building a new high school and a new preschool center, and making renovations to every school in the district. The most exciting provision of the funding called for a $10 million overhaul of the technology infrastructure at Scarlett Middle School — a Title I school in which more than 30 percent of students receive free or reduced price lunch — and the launch of a 1 to 1 learning program for all students and teachers.
Peter Ways, facilitator for the initiative, was instrumental in identifying the instructional priorities for Ann Arbor. At Scarlett, which has the district’s highest poverty rate, and where many students have no computer access at home, Ways and his colleagues believed giving each child an iBook would be the best way to overcome the digital divide, and to engage students academically on their own terms.
The use of the iBook computers has transformed learning at Scarlett Middle School. In science classes the notebook usage is pervasive, supporting data collection, graphing, report writing, note taking, and WebQuest assignments. Math teachers also leverage the iBook notebooks to practice problem solving and to support academic assessments. In language arts the students can write an essay and receive feedback in seconds, enabling students to revise and polish their work as much as desired. And, the use of the preinstalled iLife suite has motivated students to create presentations that demonstrate their learning.
Ways says that the 1 to 1 learning program has been responsible for bolstered enrollment at Scarlett. “Scarlett was the school with the biggest indicators of academic need,” he notes. “But with the help of the iBook notebooks, we anticipate that students will show significant gains in reading and writing literacy. My sense is that Scarlett will be a changed school.”
