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The U-High Laptop Initiative

 



 

Promising Practices

View a wide variety of lessons from our laptop classrooms here.

 

Learn about the laptop initiative...

 

Resources for participating faculty...


Why we're doing it...

The purpose of the initiative is to improve student interest and engagement and promote collaborative, student-directed learning.

We want to make it easy for students to access information, take and organize notes and view and listen to multimedia content during class.

In addition, we want students to be able to to go online to contribute to discussions, complete tests and quizzes and to access and turn in class materials.

Looking at key questions
   -Finding balance in a technology-rich
classroom; when & how much to use it
   -Things that work really well with the laptops

   -Classroom activities that students have liked
   -Examples of student-directed learning
   -Lessons learned 06-07

Survey results
   -Student survey results all classes (Oct. 26, 2006, 2 months in)
   -
Students survey, AP Lit 3rd period, Suzie Thetard (administered Sep. 5, 2006, 3 weeks into the initiative).
   -Student survey, Accelerated Chemistry, 6th period, Janeice Ives (Aug. 30, 2006, two weeks in)
   -Faculty end-of-year survey
   -Parent survey summary May 07

Readings
-Study shows writing gains in Maine Laptop program (Feb. 08)
-Pennsylvania high schools say laptop program is working
-Westside High School laptop success over 4 years (Omaha) (Feb 08)

-The New Face of Learning: what happens to time-worn concepts of classrooms and teaching when we can now go online and learn anything, anywhere, anytime?

 
How-to...

   ...
use the laptop classrooms
   ...connect tablet & wireless projector

Tools to use with your classes
   Blackboard
   del.icio.us: mobile favorites
   Wikis

   Podcasting
       -Audacity
       -Lame encoder
       -Sound effects
       -Directions

Downloads
   Microsoft powertoys for tablets
   Microsoft education pack

Resource Websites
   General Purpose
   The futures channel: lots of videos linking education to the real world
   Learner.org: Educational videos
   Wikibooks: free textbooks online
   The Library of Congress: videos, more
   Teacher's Domain: resources, videos
   ETIP: setting up collaborative projects
   Thinkfinity: resources, lesson plans

   Social Science
   C-Span Classroom: videos
   Digital History: videos, documents
   The National Archives: primary sources
   Community Cartography: maps

   Math/Science
   NASA: video, images
   Aquatic Field Data
   Mapping by Satellite: GPS technology
   Amusement Park Physics: motion