Living the Laptop Life in Connecticut.
Apple 1 to 1 Learning
In 1992, Suffield Academy was the first school in the U.S. to launch a 1 to 1 learning program for all students and teachers using Apple PowerBook computers. Now, iBook and PowerBook laptops are an integral part of student life for everyone at Suffield. In the words of Dean Ellerton, the school’s director of information and library services (and an Apple Distinguished Educator), “the Mac is the glue that holds us together.”
“The iBook laptop has become the hub through which all students’ academic work revolves … It is as essential as books and pencils.”
— Dean Ellerton, Director of Information & Library Services and Apple Distinguished Educator, Suffield Academy
Suffield, which has 400 residential and day students in grades 9-12, saw early on that mobile computing was the wave of the future. According to Headmaster Charlie Cahn, who was then Suffield’s director of admissions, the concept of 1 to 1 learning held exciting potential. “We looked closely at how a portable computer could enhance a traditional liberal arts education,” says Cahn. “We really felt that laptop computers would serve as a valuable tool and resource for our students.”
Students at Suffield now acquire computer expertise organically, via their daily curriculum. For example, students construct elaborate reports on their research findings with spreadsheets created with Microsoft Office. In art classes, students make basic computer drawings with AppleWorks and other drawing tools. Databases come into play in history classes, where students organize and collate materials. Poetry and scenes from all manner of literary works come alive via iMovie in English classes.
Cahn and Ellerton agree that Suffield students are far better prepared than their peers with the 21st century skills that will be required of them in college and beyond. Additionally, the quality of work at the school has reached a level that sets Suffield apart from many other high schools, and continues to generate ever-increasing numbers of applications.
