iBook Enhances Student Learning in Memphis.
Apple 1 to 1 Learning
With the purchase of 1000 iBook laptops, the teaching and learning model at Saint Agnes Academy-Saint Dominic School (SAA-SDS) has been completely transformed. In the fall of 2003, SAA-SDS officially launched its Apple 1 to 1 Learning initiative. Since then, the Catholic independent K-12 school has made a successful transition to inquiry-based learning opportunities.
“Now that everyone has an iBook and students can find the answers on their own, this inquiry-based approach is really catching on, on a daily basis.”
— Amy Moody, Director of Curriculum Integration, Saint Agnes Academy-Saint Dominic School
Every student in grades 7 through 12 now has an iBook that he or she can take home at night (school administrators are also exploring the possibility of having fifth and sixth graders keep their computers). In each of the lower grades, an iBook Wireless Mobile Lab enables each student to have access to technology and the latest online resources during class.
SAA-SDS teachers have come up with a number of creative ways to use the iBook notebooks for teaching. Science classes use probes and perform virtual dissections; math classes benefit from on-screen animations on various topics. History students regularly employ iMovie to create documentaries about notable figures and events (several of the projects have won awards from the National History Day competition). And in foreign language classes, where students are required to memorize a poem each month, one educator attaches a voice recorder to her iBook to create audio files of the poems. She then shares the files with the students to help them practice the pronunciation and accent.
Whether facilitating communications with parents or enabling visits to exciting new websites, SAA-SDS school administrators believe that Apple 1 to 1 Learning holds immeasurable promise for raising student achievement.
