| Forsyth County News | ||
School board
delays projects | ||
| Vol. 89, No. 63 | WEDNESDAY | MAY 27, 1998 |
| by Laura Lavezzo | ||
| In the event there was still some speculation that North
Forsyth Middle School students would see their wireless laptop computes
before school is out, it was learned Thursday night the NetSchools project
has been postponed indefinitely, thanks to a few glitches in the new
technology.
The school was supposed to receive the laptops from the NetSchools Corporation by Thanksgiving 1997. Since then, the project has been delayed several times again. At this point, the school board is growing weary of the wait, and is discussing the implementation of a laptop program at NFMS for the 1998-99 school year with our without NetSchools. At the May 21 meeting of the Forsyth County Board of Education, board members decided that although they are still excited about the impending technology of the wireless laptop program, they are anxious to get some type of laptops distributed to the students, whether or not they are the wireless kind. Several NetSchools laptops were distributed to NFMS teachers earlier this year, and students are actually working on the laptops in the computer and business labs at the schools. It's just a matter of a few bugs which need smoothing out before the manufacturing company will be comfortable distributing 1,000 of the machines to students for good. According to Bailey Mitchell, director of technology for the school system, NetSchools is still testing several aspects of the computers, including how well they connect to the Ceiling Access Points (CAP), how long the batteries will remain charged and how well the machines tolerate software interruptions - all major essentials in using them. "A decision needs to be made," said Mitchell. "NetSchools is a very cutting edge project, however there's a lot to work out." Also, he said, it's evident may of the teachers at NFMS are frustrated with having to continually disappoint the students this year with delayed promises. And they don't have the time to spend on troubleshooting a faulty system. "We've got to have stable, usable computers with batteries that stay up all day," said board member Paul Kreager. "I don't think we should fool around with fragile technology on the scale we're talking about doing. We all thought it was further along than it was." Mitchell said it is possible for the school system to purchase traditional laptops for the students and design classroom space for the electrical wiring needed to support several students'computers at a time. To date, the school system has spent $356,111 on the laptop program at NFMS. Nothing has been paid for which hasn't yet been received from NetSchools, and the equipment, which has been purchased, is compliant with the program. Board members agree to draft a letter to NetSchools, requesting a definite date prior to Aug. 19, the first day of school, when NFMS could receive the rest of the laptops. If the company is unable to comply, the board will likely follow Mitchell's advice and seek business elsewhere. | ||
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