Linda Colburn,
Technology Integration Facilitator, Harpeth Hall School
The Harpeth Hall School is an independent college preparatory school for girls in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The school made a commitment several years ago to integrate technology into the curriculum and classroom instruction. It provides students not only with the technological skills they will need for the new century, but also with concomitant critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
In the fall of 1998, the administrators and technology leaders at the school began researching Anytime Anywhere Learning, a Microsoft initiative that helps schools provide technology access through laptop computers for each student. Staff also visited “laptop schools” across the country. A decision was made to roll out laptops gradually to students in grades 5 to 12, beginning with the eighth grade. The administration made this decision with a clear understanding of what the implications were for teachers (e.g., required training, changes in lesson planning, and so on; see Colburn, 2000, online document) and with optimism about what it might mean for the school’s students.
Near the end of the first semester of 1999, laptops were purchased for all eighth-grade teachers. In the late spring of 1999, laptops were purchased and given to all other middle and upper school teachers. Professional development opportunities were provided for teachers to attend conferences, visit laptop schools, and participate in workshops.
Students who would be entering Grade 8 in August 2000 purchased laptops at the end of the 1999-2000 school year. During the same academic year, seventh- and ninth-grade students began using laptops in the spring; as of fall 2001, students in grades 7 to 11 were working with laptops. Two of the school’s four computer labs were dismantled in summer 2001; the remaining lab in the upper school is scheduled to be dismantled in 2002, when all students in grades 7 to 12 will have laptops. Students in grades 5 and 6 have access to an 18-station lab, and have 5 desktop computers in each classroom as of the 2001-02 school year. All students, as they enter into the program, are required to have laptops. Families who have difficulty with such purchases may participate in payment plans, and laptops are available from vendors at significant discounts. More information about our laptops program is available at the school website.
As the school’s technology integration facilitator, I speak frequently with the eighth-grade teachers and children about laptop and technology implementation. Although formal measures to evaluate the laptop program will not be in place until after this school year, teachers unanimously agree that things have changed in their classrooms. This year, the teachers feel that students have increased their problem-solving skills and are better organized than in previous years; they spend less time looking for their work and more time working. Students pull their assignments from the school Intranet, and post work back to classroom-period folders. They have opportunities to articulate what and how they are learning to one another and to their teachers, using e-mail and bulletin boards. I am continually struck by their confidence and ease with the technology, and by the depth of their understanding.
Their year-long experience with laptops is best told by the teacher and students, in their own voices. Just follow the links below to hear from them.
Reference
Colburn, L.K. (2000, August). Integrating technology in your middle school classroom: Some hints from a successful process. Reading Online, 4(2). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/colburn/index.html
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Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted February 2002
© 2002 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232