Madison County high schoolers getting laptops
High schoolers in Madison County will be trading in their backpacks for laptop bags in August after the district launches its $6 million 1:M Digital Initiative.
After years of planning and saving, the district will provide every 9th- through 12th-grader a MacBook Air. All students, elementary and middle school included, will also have access to iPads, Windows-based and Apple computers.
The initiative is a big deal in a state that ranks at the bottom when it comes to technology in education.
Teachers prepared for the initiative by developing curriculum and instruction that integrate technology into student learning.
"The bubble sheet days are over," technology coordinator Gavin Guynes said, noting students will be creating presentations, writing papers using the educational website Khan Academy, accessing video lessons from their teachers and using the devices in other ways as well.
"I love the device, but the device is really just the baseline," Guynes said.
Teachers will be able to administer tests and quizzes online, and every classroom will be equipped with a SMART Board and an Apple TV.
"At the end of every day, a student could take a quiz to see how well they gathered the information for that day and the teacher would know instantly how well they did in presenting that information," Guynes said.
Every 6th- through 12th-grade student will have an e-mail account they can use to communicate with teachers.
The initiative is paid for by funds set aside since 2008 in addition to debt service millage that was repurposed to operations, said district finance director Debbie Jones.
"We knew there were a lot of curriculum changes coming because of Common Core, so we just consciously set aside money to make sure we made the improvements to the infrastructure," Jones said. "We had to get the wireless technology out there at every site to make sure it could support that many devices."
Students will pay a $50 fee for insurance not covered by Apple.
Mississippi is notorious for its lack of technology in classrooms and homes, though the Clinton Public School District is looked to as a model after it began implementing a program using Apple digital devices for teachers and students in 2012. The state earned an "F" on this year's "digital report card" by Digital Learning Now, a group that pushes for more technology in schools.
Guynes says the district is looking at ways to continue expanding the initiative, including a pilot program that will put Wi-Fi on school buses with long routes and athletic buses. "What we're looking for is: Does bus discipline go down? Do they get an extra academic benefit for having Wi-Fi on the bus?
Contact Kate Royals at (601) 360-4619 or kroyals@gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter.