Monday, November 22, 2010

Netbook Handover

Tuesday November 16th came and the first two classes of Netbook students in our Manaiakalani Cluster received their Netbooks. What an awesome occasion to be part of. One of the many spin-offs is that by giving the students connectivity on a 1:1 basis they have blogged about how they felt.
So here come some links if you want to read it through the kids' eyes....

Helen T and Sam and Tuipulotu and Ocean and Shaniah and Tia
One quote from Year 7 student:
I am really excited about the future and how this may change our school lives forever
These two classes, Room 19 with Ms Tito and Room 20 Mrs Nua have not only the pleasure of being first, but also the responsibility of piloting the project. This includes keeping smiling through all the teething issues, exploring the possibilities and recording their findings. They will also be required to mentor others when they get their turn next year. The two links in this paragraph will give you a perspective from the two teachers' point of view.


These students signed a useage agreement form before taking temporary possession of their Netbooks for four weeks. This batch of Netbooks are owned by the cluster (thanks to a philanthrophic donation) and will become our insurance pool of Netbooks for 2011. They will have to start leasing their own along with everyone else in 2011.

We have a three stage pilot for the 1:1 roll out across our seven schools.
Stage One: 2010 two classes in one school to work through the teething problems
Stage Two: 2011 13 classes across six schools (including two Year 10 classes)
Stage Three: 2012 All students from Year 5-13 in our seven schools

Student Netbook Agreement:
I agree that:
I will respect the equipment by always looking after it and keeping it safe
I will respect others by always using this netbook to interact with other people in a positive and caring way
I will make the most of this opportunity to learn lots of new things and to share them with others
I will always be in the right place, at the right time, when I am online. If I am in doubt I will ask my teacher.
I will protect my password and keep it completely secret.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your 1:1 journey so far Dorothy. I'm going to be watching avidly to see how things progress for you all. Exciting times indeed ...

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  2. Hi Mrs. Burt,

    I really feel the usage of Netbooks is a great way for students to learn. The children are positive about it and excited to learn, and that will bring forth a rewarding experience for them. Thank you for sharing and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

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  3. You would not believe just how engaged the students are. Their blogging output is huge. It's at times eerily quiet (to the point where I've missed more than one lunch hour because I haven't realised that the kids aren't in the rooms).


    I've been blogging about my own experiences with this project here: http://nevsramblings.blogspot.com

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  4. This is really great! I believe that this not only will teach the students how to research certain things at school but it will show them responsibly as well. Teaching children responsibility at a young age is very important

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  5. I am a student at the University of South Alabama and a student of Dr.Strange's EDM 310 class. I think it's great that the school is doing this. This is definitely going to open new doors for your school and students. I really wish things could have been this way when I was in elementary school!

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