Starr’s Mill next in line for laptop upgrade
Students work on an assignment on school laptops. Beginning next school year, all students will receive their own laptop to bring to school and work on in their classes.
March 7, 2018
At the beginning of the next school year, Starr’s Mill will be going one-to-one with laptops and students. Years ago, a project like this would have seemed far-fetched, but now, the idea seems like a good opportunity for students to further their education in the classroom and at home.
“It’s going to be a very beneficial experience, because we have seen how other schools have implemented the process and we have tweaked it to meet the needs of our school,” McBride said.
This is following many other schools in the county, such as Fayette County High School and other middle and elementary schools. The project is exceptionally large because of the many elementary, middle, and high schools involved and is one of the biggest decisions made by the school board in the past years. Due to the size of the project, the laptops are coming to schools in waves, with Starr’s Mill getting them in the fall.
“It will take away with some of the problems with cell phones,” assistant principal David McBride said.
Along with potential learning opportunity, the school hopes that going one-to-one will limit cell phone use here and, in turn, take away any of the issues associated with them. A downside of the laptops is students having to manage another electronic device in their lives. Plus, in order for the students to be able to manage all of these devices while on school grounds, the county will have to increase the bandwidth of the wi-fi routers at the schools.
“The technology implementations will be very useful to teachers and students for having more engaging lessons,” McBride said.
Using websites such as Kahoot, Blackboard, and Nearpod, there is great opportunity for the laptops in the instruction of students. It also gives every student in the county a chance to have his or her own device, which will enable them to do school work from home.
“The virtual tours are going to create a global learning environment where we can interact with other communities all around the world and better understand how we can come together as an instructional community,” McBride said.
One of the biggest implications of the laptop is the ability to connect to global servers and interact with people all around the world. Utilizing this technology in schools offers a promising future and may show us what schools will look like well into the future.
