“My hope is that next year, CHS is a paperless and textbookless school. I believe the purpose of education is to maximize the potential of each student so that students are prepared for their futures and not the past.” This is the vision that Mr. Ross has set for Chapin High School’s near future.
Over the course of last summer, Mr. Ross worked to arrange a deal that would enable each student in the incoming Freshman class to receive laptops of their very own. “We spoke with Apple Computers and Dell Computers about hardware options.” Ross said, “The iPad was a serious option, but the cost of the device for each student would be too expensive.”
But Mr. Ross’ grand idea is still alive and well. “Basically what I want to do is get rid of text books, and get you guys out in what’s going on in the world today.”
Student text books cost approximately 362 dollars a year, and iPads would only be 350. The use of items such as laptops or iPads would contribute to Chapin’s efforts at conserving paper, and would eliminate the use of many hard copy text books. The price difference might not be much, but such a transition would potentially save thousands of dollars over time. He is considering anything from iPads to Kindles, so long as it will conserve paper and be cost efficient.
The whole student-issued laptop idea has been tried before. South Carolina is still observing the results of its latest trial. In 2007 South Carolina issued a $5 million grant allowing the issuance of personal laptops for all 9th grade students attending six South Carolina High Schools. The iAm Laptop Pilot Program is only a trial effort, set to stretch through the year of 2011. Evaluations of the project at the end of the period will determine where the idea goes from there. If scores improve by the end of the pilot and the program appears beneficial, it is set to stretch to the rest of the state.
In a world where electronic advances come easily, the real question is why haven’t schools looked into the issue more seriously? Ross’ stance is, “Chapin High is behind the times in terms of technology. Thirty years ago, the majority of homes in the US had encyclopedias that were used to provide people with information. The Internet and websites like Google have made encyclopedias obsolete. It is my belief that textbooks are no different than the encyclopedias.”
Needless to say, student hopes are high. The overall opinion is that technology trumps all, and the paperless world once only considered science fiction is right around the corner.
