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Posted on May 4, 2011
One-to-One in the Asheboro City Schools
by James Rosso
A small town in North Carolina launches a new laptop program after extensive planning and professional development.
According to a state web site, “The guiding mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is that every public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and postsecondary education, and prepared for life in the 21st century.” This is the idea behind several high-tech initiatives North Carolina has supported in the past decade – including a high-bandwidth fiber backbone for the state, a virtual public high school, and a model schools program.
In 2008, using the competitive portion of North Carolina's Title II, D, Enhancing Education Through Technology allocation, the state’s board of education awarded IMPACT IV grants to four districts that met the federal criteria of high poverty and high technology need and showed a commitment to technology-supported innovation. In order to qualify for these grants, the districts participated in extensive planning and visioning over a several-month period.
Asheboro City Schools was one of these four districts. With the IMPACT money, which was continued in September 2009, the decision was made to launch a one-to-one laptop program at the district’s one high school. The vision of the Asheboro High School 1:1 Initiative is to have every high school student in this multi-ethnic, financially diverse community graduate from a rigorous program that prepares students to be globally competitive with “the skills and competencies needed to live, learn, and thrive in an ever-changing world that demands innovation and creativity.”
In adopting its one-to-one initiative Asheboro City Schools became part of a broader network of schools involved in the North Carolina Learning Technology Initiative (NCLTI), a public-private partnership led by the William & Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at the NC State University College of Education. The Friday Institute provides planning and leadership training, ongoing professional development, and evaluation services.
Rolling Out the Program
Moving from conception to implementation was a two-year process. The 2009-2010 school year was used for planning and laying the groundwork. The program’s planners did extensive research about existing 1:1 initiatives, with help from the ISTE book, 1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work, by Pamela Livingston as well as the programs and research profiled here at K12 Computing Blueprint.
They also paid careful attention to the 13 “Conditions for Success” for 1:1 computing programs outlined in the North Carolina Learning Technology Initiative’s Framework for Planning:
- A well-articulated vision and rationale for NCLTI, along with a strategic plan for implementing the approach;
- Engagement and support from all constituents of the school community, including the LEAs, local government, the business community, and parents;
- Collaborative school and district leadership teams comprised of instructional, curriculum, technology, and administrative leaders who are committed to the NCLTI approach;
- High quality professional development and ongoing support for teachers as they reshape and update teaching practices to take full advantage of the available technology, as well as for administrators as they update school management practices and support the teachers;
- School-based staff, such as instructional technology facilitators and media specialists, who provide instructional support for the use of technology to enhance learning;
- A portable, wireless computing device for each student, teacher, and administrator;
- Additional technology to support teaching and learning in each classroom, such as a scanner, projector, digital white board, document camera and digital camera;
- High bandwidth connectivity to the school and sufficient wireless connectivity throughout the school;
- Digital education resources for teachers and students, including tools and resources that support productivity (e.g., word processing), web 2.0-based activities (e.g., blogs and wikis), e-leaning (e.g., learning management and conferencing systems), curriculum planning, classroom management, student assessment and teaching and learning in specific content areas;
- School-based technical staff who ensure that the technology is maintained, kept up-to-date and repaired as needed;
- Strategies for ensuring student safety and appropriate use of computers in accord with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and local policies, while still enabling teachers and students access to a wide range of information and communication resources;
- Sustainable funding to support the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the technology resources and the costs of ongoing professional development;
- Evaluation processes in place to provide adequate data to make strategic programmatic, as well as instructional decisions.
Professional development began in the fall of 2009 with a focus on student-centered, data-driven learning environments that are enabled by a one-to-one environment. The goal is to nurture and respond to the diverse learning abilities of the students.
The planning team decided to purchase HP laptops and backpacks for each student and to upgrade the wireless infrastructure for all eight schools in the district. This work began in July of 2010 and all Asheboro schools now have access to a wireless network. At Asheboro High School preparation also involved converting a former computer lab space to a help desk area and reconfiguring shelving in the library to house the computers and backpacks. Two new technicians were hired at the district level and plans were made for dealing with the technology when it arrived.
The computers arrived on January 3, 2011, and were issued to the students later that month. In the short time between arrival and distribution, the laptops were checked and configured by a team of faculty and volunteers. The following checklists provide an overview of the steps involved in initial implementation:
Accepting shipment and unpacking
- Unload;
- Move boxed laptops;
- Assembly line/stations to unpack;
- Barcode laptop and power brick;
- Store in helpdesk with cables and power cords accessible.
Initial power up and network logon
- Turn on power;
- Log on to network;
- Charge all laptops;
- Etch laptops with ACS logo.
Checking out to students
- Create record and copies;
- Check out laptops and power bricks to students (with computer serial number noted on power brick);
- Put forms with laptops;
- Store in homeroom sets.
Rollout to students
- Laptops and bags delivered to homerooms 30 minutes prior to orientation meeting;
- Students report to homerooms (parent attendance optional but welcome);
- Laptops and bags given to students;
- Show use/care video;
- Students turn on laptops and log on;
- Review proper operating procedures and Q & A;
- Students sign forms and turn in;
- Laptops that were not distributed are returned to help desk;
- Home Room teachers turn in forms to help desk.
Planning for the student orientation was equally thorough. Students were instructed on charging and conserving batteries, troubleshooting, how to connect to the school network through wireless hotspots off campus, and more. They were also given guidelines and rules for the “care and feeding” of their new computers. These included:
- Use the backpack provided by the school district to carry the laptop.
- Treat the laptop carefully. Do not toss it, stack items on it, sit on it, etc. or the screen will crack.
- Do not “feed” your laptop. Keep food and drink away.
- Bring the laptop to school each day with the battery fully charged.
- Secure out of view when transporting in a vehicle.
- Comply with all district technology policies.
- The HP 4420s laptop is for the assigned student’s use only and should not be shared or left unattended.
- Do not remove any district labels from the laptop.
- The laptop should not be defaced or decorated.
- Do not access or store inappropriate materials on the laptop.
- Do not insert anything into computer ports not intended for those ports.
- The laptops are district property and can be searched by district employees at any time.
- Report loss, theft, or damage to the technology department as soon as possible.
Separate classes were also made available to parents to orient them to the hardware and operating system.
Evaluating the Program
The Friday institute, which is involved in large-scale evaluation of one-to-one programs throughout the state, has been and will continue to conduct formal evaluations of the Asheboro City Schools program. In the meantime, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that the program is off to a good start. As it completes its first few months of implementation, Marty Williams, instructional technology lead teacher, reports that the reactions of teachers and students have been positive, with students enthusiastic and engaged.
As reported in “What’s Right with Our Schools,” a show by local television affiliate MyFox8.com, history teacher Edford Phillips finds that “the kids are a lot more engaged, a lot more focused and they are starting to develop a lot more responsibility for their own education.” Other teachers – and students – agree.
As with any good program, the planning and visioning does not end with initial implementation. Teachers are realizing that they still have a lot to learn in terms of adapting to a changing pedagogical model and there is more professional development planned to support them in their efforts. Plans are underway for a new charging station and furniture that can be moved around more easily so it can adapt to different learning situations.
Principal Kemper Fitch is impressed with the instant access to information the technology provides. “It’s a tool, just like a textbook is a tool. And it’s taking the place of the textbook. … Because of having this access, our kids will really have a leg up on the competition – and it’s a competitive world.”
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