By next fall, hitting the books may no longer be necessary for Charlottesville students. A proposal drafted by Charlottesville City School officials aims to replace textbooks with computer learning in order to better engage students and prepare them for the workplace.
The “One to One Computer Initiative” (in PDF) is a plan to equip every student in grades five through 12 with their own laptop. Part of the superintendent’s 2011-2012 budget, the initiative goes before the School Board for approval this Thursday, in a meeting at Charlottesville High School. If passed, the “One to One” initiative could cost the city $500,000 and is part of a larger budget that will cut 15 instructional aids from the School Board’s payroll, reports the Newsplex.
Initiative supporters think that in a world of instant access, textbooks are an occasionally outdated source of information and are no longer cost-efficient. Internet access, they argue, can provide students with free educational materials that are both interactive and often more current than textbooks.
Stanford professor Larry Cuban, author of Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom, claims that computers can enhance classroom learning if teachers understand how to fully use the technology themselves. Cuban argues that students use computers far less at school than they do at home, and that teachers who use computers typically do so “unimaginatively and infrequently.”
Recent studies, however, suggest that students who are actively engaged by computer learning see positive results. A 2010 study in Central Georgia elementary schools revealed that, after playing multiplication computer games for two weeks, student math scores rose by nearly 20 percent. The West Virginia Basic Skills/Computer Education program also found significant student gains in reading, writing and mathematics once computers were introduced into the state’s curriculum.
The “One to One” initiative is considering the use of Apple laptops, iPad and Droid tablets, and Windows Thin Clients in an effort to properly meet each grade level’s needs. If passed on Thursday, the plan will be reviewed by City Council on April 11.
