Learning by Laptop Program Grows at Area High Schools

Karen Maeshiro, Daily News Staff Writer

When Antelope Valley High School ninth-grader Kristin Harper was writing about her life goals, one of which is to own a 1967 Ford Mustang, she needed a picture of the car for her report. No archaic magazine cutout would do for her, so she instead zapped a picture off the Internet via a laptop computer that she and other students are using in a special program.

"I love it because I don't like to write a lot, so when I do homework I can type it," said Harper, 13. "I've learned a lot of stuff off the computer. It helps you get ready for real life." Harper is one of 150 students this year at Antelope Valley and Littlerock high schools who are using laptop computers in a program geared to improve learning. The program, which is a partnership between the Antelope Valley Union High School District and Microsoft and Toshiba, is in its second year at the two schools. The program last year had 60 students.

"We are looking at a way for students to have a thinking tool with them at all times," said Pat Hart, the district's coordinator of education technology. "By taking it from class to class, they are able to coordinate their learning and have their thinking tool, their computer, with them all the time." The students have either purchased the laptops for about $1,800, or are renting them at a cost of $30 a month, Hart said. Hart said the district will expand the program to include other schools next year.

At Antelope Valley High School, the students use their laptops in their English, health and science classes, which are coordinated through the program to make learning integrated and held in one classroom wired for the Internet. At the end of the day, they can take the gray, notebook-size, 5-pound computers home with them.

"It's really a great program," said Robert Wilson, a 15-year-old freshman. "You can use the Internet to download information that we use in class. It helps me because I can use it to do presentations and do my homework on. If I do a report, I can go into Microsoft Word and print it out." Wilson added using the laptop has helped him academically. "It's a lot of fun. When you are interested, of course, you'll be getting into it," he said.

The program has shown positive results, according to surveys of parents and students, Hart said. "They said it helped them to stay more focused and to be more organized," Hart said. "For students with problems with motivation, using a computer was a motivational force for them. Other students said their writing skills had improved."

(Copyright 1997)