The Wave of the Future
Yarbrough and Morris both agree that Gillispie’s laptop program is the most important initiative the school has undertaken in recent years. Ask Yarbrough how she would counsel other elementary schools considering a laptop program, and she grows passionate on the subject.
“All of this has been very good for us; we love the iBook computers,” she says. “I’ve been telling other schools that if you have the money, but you can’t make the decision, you just have to do it. You have to do it! I’ve invited people to come down to our school to see how it’s working … and I think in the next few years, there’s going to be a huge wave of schools going the laptop route.”
“The ideal learning environment is one in which the teachers are also learners, and the students can be teachers,” adds Morris. “I believe that The Gillispie School is rapidly approaching the ideal technology environment for learning. The administration and the parents are all 100 percent behind the iBook laptop initiative, and we expect to sustain it for many years to come.”
Advice to Other Schools
- No matter what it takes, in terms of staffing and finances, maintain your focus on your 1 to 1 learning initiative. The benefits to students are well worth the effort required.
- Allow sufficient time prelaunch for students to learn basic keyboarding skills. Your technology integration will be much more seamless later on.
- Remember that your teachers will be learning as well. Allow them the professional development time they need to become familiar and comfortable with their new technology tools.
- Onsite technical support is crucial. If teachers new to computers cannot get the help they need when problems arise in the middle of a lesson, they will become soured to future technology use.
- If you can’t afford to distribute laptops to every student, an iBook Wireless Mobile Lab is a terrific way to transition to 1 to 1 learning.