Fulton County school system leaders plan the most expansive effort yet by a Georgia school district to make technology available to students.
They want to give students mobile devices like tablets or small laptops to take home in an effort to boost classroom learning, starting this fall.
The devices are expected to be rolled out in about 20 elementary, middle and high schools by December, with up to 20,000 given out by the end of the year, Fulton officials said Wednesday, when they discussed the technology rollout at a school board meeting.
The district hopes to equip all middle and high school students with the devices by 2017. For students in kindergarten through fifth grade, more devices will be put in classrooms. Fulton leaders would like all elementary students to have access to the devices eventually, and be able to bring them home.
The cost for the devices is projected at nearly $28.3 million, and would come from SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax) funds, an idea that has been controversial before. A Cobb County plan in 2005 to give students take-home laptops fell through after it spurred a lawsuit over paying for them with SPLOST funds and the superintendent resigned.
“Forever the teacher’s been trying to make learning unique for every kid, trying to meet all their different needs,” said Scott Muri, Fulton deputy superintendent for academics. “But we haven’t been at a place in education to really do that effectively until technology came along. So now a teacher not only can understand kids are learning and growing in different ways, but they can actually use tools to help them learn in different ways … that’s what we’re doing in Fulton, personalizing the experience for kids.”
Some parents are concerned their children might be exposed to inappropriate websites, and some question if the devices will be damaged, stolen or widely misused.
“I have two boys, 14 and 12. And they’re very curious,” said Mariela Carrasquillo, whose two sons attend Fulton schools in John’s Creek. “I think that’s going to be the main thing on parents’ minds. Are you going to block certain sites? I do think parents are going to have to keep a close eye.”
“I do like the focus on technology … that’s how they’re (students) motivated to learn. Especially, when they can access it easily from home.”
Not every student has a computer at home, and Fulton leaders believe giving all children mobile devices will level the playing field. They’re working on getting as many kids connected to the Internet at home as possible, and point out that kids can also get online at the public library and other areas. They also say that since standardized tests will be given online more in the next few years, students need to be adept in learning and test-taking via a computerized device.
They say they’ve spent the past two years training teachers how to use the devices to best augment learning in the classroom. The district says it also has software that can track where the devices are at all times, guarding against theft.
Bob Swiggum, chief information officer at the Georgia Department of Education, who oversees technology in classrooms, said most school districts already have computer labs and laptops and mobile devices in classrooms, but not many are giving students devices to take home.
He said Clarke County is handing them out to students to take home this school year, but Fulton appears to be the largest district doing so.
Fulton is the fourth-largest school district in Georgia, with a projected 2014-2015 enrollment of nearly 96,300 students. The system includes 101 schools – 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 17 high schools and seven startup charter schools.
“It is the thing (technology) that will really help education, which is a child having access to education resources 24/7, to operate at their own pace,” Swiggum said. “That’s the differentiation in the personalized learning that everybody talks about, but without the technology, it’s hard to do.”
Other metro Atlanta districts – including Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett — don’t provide take-home technology, but do allow students access to computers and other devices at the school. They encourage students to bring their own technology to the classroom, but don’t have plans to soon supply students with tablets or laptops to take home.
More school districts across the country in recent years have been moving toward giving students mobile devices and encouraging their use outside the classroom. Education officials and technology advocates laud the shift, though it has come with some challenges.
In Los Angeles, for example, it became apparent that teachers and staff were not adequately trained to use the devices to augment classroom teaching. Students were also able to go around filters set up by the school system on the devices, noted Doug Levin, executive director for the State Educational Technology Directors Association.
“A lot of learning happens outside school,” Levin said. “It becomes, quite frankly, an equity issue because large numbers of sort of more well-to-do kids have this access and they have a distinct advantage over kids who do not have that. Equity is a huge piece of it.”
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