I wanted to share an article that I read on South Carolina's Dept of Education website. I couldn't help but associate this
with Tyack and Cuban and their ideas on school reform. Blue Cross Blue Shield donated $500,000 for the One Laptop per Child program in SC. Because of this, the state is able to expand this program to 12 more elementary schools. I have them listed at the bottom of this article. Two of them are very close to our area. One is just a mile from my home. I couldn't help but think what this is
going to do to our "grammar of schooling" and wonder if this change is going to be so radical that it will fail. The program was piloted in SC last year in a very rural district of Marion, SC. The article states that the pilot program has received positive response from students, partents and community. I notice they didn't mention what the teachers thought of it. The test results of the students have also not yet been reported, but the article does state that the test results should show greater student performance since technology has been integrated into teaching and learning. The laptops are made by the nonprofit group, One Laptop per Child. This group creates and distributes inexpensive technology to the world's poorest countries. The computers cost $200 but are distributed at no cost to the children. Parents are required to atttend one of several seminars offered on the use and care of the laptops and must also sign user agreements. The laptops are spill proof, rain proof, dust proof and drop proof. The article stated that they are equipped with a camera, microphone, speakers and screen that rotates into a tablet configuration. They can be used to draw pictures, compose music, read and listen to books, collaborate on classroom projectes and play games. I think that this is an excellent program and wonderful opportunity for students to become familiar with technology. State Superintendent Jim Rex stated that"We believe that working with a school-issued laptop will help our students improve their academic skills and inspire them to set goals and achieve great things in their lives. Thanks to our partners in this project (Palmetto Project and Blue Cross Blue Shield) , we are making a bold commitment to prepare South Carolina's children to become true leaders in the global economy of the 21st century." I couldn't also help but think that is a good thing because most all 2nd graders were born in the 21st century and never even lived in the 20th century. I think it is funny that "we" are wanting to prepare them for the 21st century which we have lived in ourselves now for over 8 years.
Schools being added for the One Laptop per Child Program this month include:
- Chester Park Technology Center, Chester
- Mountain View Elementary, Taylors
- India Hook Elementary, Rock Hill
- Buffalo Elementary, Buffalo
- Foster Park Elementary, Union
- Monarch Elementary, Union
- Sandy Run Elementary, Swansea
- Vance-Providence Elementary, Vance
- North Vista Elementary, Florence
- Rice Creek Elementary, Columbia
- Port Royal Elementary, Port Royal
- North Charleston Elementary, North Charleston
link to article: http://ed.sc.gov/news/more.cfm?articleID=1195
