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May 26, 2006
Mobile lab brings laptops to students
By MARY BALDASANO
Today, computers have become the vital tool for them to use in learning. Rosemary Clark Middle School has recently added a mobile computer lab as one more educational option. Principal Jeff Wales said, "Standard computer labs are not large enough for all the children to have access when they need it. As a result of a negotiation with Dell Computer Co., we have been able to obtain state-of-the-art laptops that can be taken to any classroom at any time for the children to use. "These computers are mostly used in reading, language arts, and mathematics classes and contain software that walks the children through their lessons to a successful achievement." In 2005, the Nye County School District initiated a 21st Century Grant and Title funding source for upgrading county computer systems. The upgrade included the purchase of laptops and related storage carts. Each cart is designed to hold from 16 to 32 laptops, which can be rolled to the classroom where a laptop is assigned to each child. Access to the Internet is controlled or denied, depending on the need of the child at the time of use. The laptops' software programs do not require Internet access. The students are able to print out anything they are working on so that they can continue to study once the computer is returned to the cart. The school's network is isolated and cannot be reached from other computers outside the school system. There have been no instances of hackers on the network. Wales said the computers are critical to the education process. "The norms of society have changed since 20 or 30 years ago," he said. "Computers are now part of that normal standard, and our children need to able to grow and work within the computer age. Most children have known nothing but computers." Computers help identify weak and strong areas of individual students as well as entire classes, said Wales. "We are also implementing a new computer access program for those students whose parents cannot afford to buy them," he said. "With these changes, our students are certainly given every opportunity to learn everything possible." |
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