“Kids are coming to school early because they can log onto their iBook laptops in the cafeteria or gym, and they don’t want to go home in the afternoon!” she marvels. “Once they’re in class, they’re completely engaged and want to work together on their projects. Obviously, that’s a big step forward, in terms of their learning opportunities.”

State to Monitor Impact of Technology Immersion

Givens and the TEA have just launched an intensive, three-year scientific research project that will gauge the effect of TxTIP on learning. The Texas Center for Education Research is leading the data collection and evaluation activities. In addition, Vaughn and other participating school administrators regularly forward reports and recommendations to Givens, as well as Texas legislators. The state’s House Public Education Committee also formulated an “eLearning Task Force”; the team recently held a Tech Expo to acquaint the state’s lawmakers with all TxTIP technology providers, along with other educational technology products and services. And Floydada students have connected with legislators in Austin using iSight cameras and iChat AV to show off their technical prowess.

Vaughn and Givens are both optimistic about the results expected from the research. The pair is also delighted that the success of the laptop project in Floydada Junior High School led to a unanimous vote by the school board to approve the extension of the program to all 333 students in Floydada High School, beginning in the fall of 2005. Thus, Floydada is the only totally immersed sixth through twelfth grades in West Texas. According to Vaughn, students who do not have laptops when they reach high school will miss important learning opportunities.

“We don’t have any farmers here going back to the mules; they want the tractor with the cab and the air conditioning,” he muses. “We’re seeing the same thing with our kids — we want them to continue to be successful in their learning. Anytime we can, we report that our iBook initiative is a great thing, and we’re extremely happy that we can expand it into the high school. There are people who stand in line at amusement parks for hours to have the kind of experience we’ve had this past semester! Having the iBook laptops has been a very positive thing for us. It’s been a wild ride, and a whole lot of fun.”

Student Engagement at an All-Time High

Vaughn says his district’s partnership with a local Internet provider was integral to the success of TxTIP in Floydada. Since most students lacked home computer access, it was critical to make low-cost Internet connectivity available to the families of children who received the iBook laptops. Now that students have 24/7 access to such powerful digital learning tools as the iLife suite, netTrekker, and Beyond Books, Vaughn says attendance is up, disciplinary referrals are down, and student engagement is at an all-time high. Givens says she hears similar reports from all of the TxTIP schools.