by Dennis Sharkey
Landmark reporter
Some school districts such as North Kansas City and even some colleges are supplying students with laptop computers, but is it a good idea for Platte County R-3?
Platte County R-3 Superintendent Dr. Mike Reik said currently the district doesn't have the financial capabilities to take on the project. He said it would be about a $1 million venture for the district.
Reik said there are issues he sees with implementing a program. One problem in his opinion is the ever changing cell phone and PDA device markets. He said new technology in those realms is moving at such a rapid pace that any equipment would be obsolete in two years.
“We don't know what we're going to be using two years from now,” he told board members last week. “That's a lifetime in technology.”
Reik also said the jury is still out on the educational benefit of supplying computers to students. He said some notebooks that are handed out only serve as a word processor and internet access point.
Reik said every time a story about the subject comes across his desk it catches his attention.
Board member Jeana Houlahan recently attended a workshop presented by the Knob Knoster school district concerning student laptops. She said with the program there are some costs savings.
“It doesn't cost as much to do something like that as you think because there's a lot of savings from paper,” she said. “Everything is done electronically.”
She said Knob Knoster also has a wireless access point at the school. She said students could sit in their cars and access the internet if they had to.
“I think it's important because kids now can't even apply for a part-time job without internet access,” she said.
Although board members agreed supplying students with laptops is a daunting task, they also came to a consensus that the issue needs to be monitored.
“It's not a matter of if, it's a question of when so in the meantime let's learn as much as we can,” board member Mary Temperelli said.
A wireless access point for the school could be expensive as well. Reik said it could costs at least $60,000 for one access point.
The discussion then turned to student email accounts and internet access for teachers in the classroom. Reik said at one point students had email but the program was taken away because of disciplinary reasons.
“Everything high school students do to a certain extent comes with some disciplinary risks,” Reik said.
Houlahan said students need to be prepared to take online classes and be prepared for new technology when they graduate. She said some districts require students to take an online class before graduation.
“We need to be preparing our kids to take online classes because they will be doing it in college,” she said. “We need to get our kids used to those things. We need to have our kids be able to have email and apply for jobs.”
Houlahan also said she would like to see more freedom given to teachers to access web sites in the classroom. She said sometimes the lesson is lost by the time a teacher can get permission to unlock a web site.
“A lot of different web sites our teachers don't have access to now because you miss the learning opportunity if you have to wait for approval,” she said. “I think we're going to have to let our teachers have the opportunity to do that.”
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