Student Computer Use

 Student Access

History of Laptop Use at Dalton

It is extremely important that technology integration efforts on the part of The Dalton School and its faculty be firmly tied to the learning and teaching goals of the school. Successful use of technology, in addition to a solid pedagogical framework, relies on some very practical variables: infrastructure, space utilization, access, and reliability. In an effort to address some of these practical variables, Dalton introduced the use of laptop computers.

1999-2000

Laptops were first introduced at The Dalton School in the spring of 1999 to the seventh grade as a pilot program. A proposal outlining the goals and objectives of the program was submitted and approved for the purchase of twenty laptop computers for student use and six for teacher use. The training of faculty was implemented as follows:

April-June, 2000

Faculty and NLTL Technology Coordinator met bi-weekly. Seventh grade teachers, in concert with the Middle School technology coordinator, developed a plan for further integrating technology into the curriculum.

Summer, 2000

The same group met for two weeks, at which time the scope and sequence for a select group of projects was established.

2000-2001

These projects were implemented within a modular schedule during the seventh grade core. Each class had daily access to the laptops for the duration of the project (expected to be three to six weeks). Other classes on a per-period scheduling arrangement filled openings in this schedule. Bi-weekly meetings continued throughout the year for the purpose of refinement and troubleshooting of projects.

The fourth grade followed the project with the second infusion of laptops. The implementation was much less formal. A cartful of twenty student laptops and five teacher laptops were purchased. No formal training of laptop use was required. The laptops were shared by the fourth grade classes and scheduled amongst themselves. The fourth grade teachers were responsible for daily management of the laptops-checkout, reporting problems, etc.

At the same time, a third set of twenty students and five teacher laptops were purchased for the use by the science department. Again, no formal training was required during this implementation, although some of the science teachers attended summer technology workshops. The laptops were shared on an as-needed basis throughout the day. The science teachers were responsible for daily management of the laptops-checkout, reporting problems, etc.

2002-2003

In the spring of 2002, Dalton introduced a formal laptop for teachers program to allow for all teachers to have ownership of a laptop. In order to receive a laptop, the faculty member attended approximately sixty hours of technology training on a variety of areas to develop skills and strategies for technology use in curricular and administrative areas. This program took three years to fully implement. Learn more about the Faculty Laptop Program.

Additional student laptops will be purchased as needed to facilitate student technology access and mobility. For example, an additional cart of student laptops was purchased for use in the library classroom. Classes reserve this room in advance to use them.

Staffing

In the fall of 2000, a part-time employee was added to the technology department specifically to assist with management of the laptops.

Infrastructure

In the first year of laptops, the school added a wireless LAN to the 89th St. building to cover the few areas that had laptops. Today, all of the 89th St. building, the 91st St. building, and the Gym offices are accessible via wireless connectivity. Successful implementation of the use of laptops, whether by students or faculty, relies on stable, ubiquitous wireless connectivity.

Observations

Dalton's laptop program started with the seventh grade. Since the core classes are spread out across several floors, the decision was made to schedule laptop usage around multiple-week projects, rather than simply making them available to students at the discretion of each teacher. This has proved to be a successful model in this situation, as teachers have responded with innovations in their curriculum.

In our second year, the fourth grade showed how a different model can be applied to the same physical resources - a cart of 20 laptops. Given the style of work done in fourth grade classroom and the fact that their classrooms are located on the same floor, the laptops have been used much more spontaneously. While each teacher has run at least one project incorporating the laptops, walking by the classrooms, one most often finds the laptops spread out across classes, with students working on writing and research as the need arises. This is a much more natural usage and gives a picture of what a full-scale laptop program might look like at Dalton.

Three generations of Macintosh laptops have been purchased. Each model has unique benefits and issues. The model used in the fourth grade seems to have the most service calls, presumably because of the age of the user and the amount of usage it gets. The same model introduced to the science department does not have as many calls.

Sharing laptops with other departments is occurring, allowing for others to gain benefit from the technology.