Ursuline Academy

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE LEARNING @ URSULINE

Incoming Seventh graders and new students enjoy Christmas in July when they log on to their new laptops at Computer Camp, July 21 and 22
by Karen Kegelman ‘85

Since 1998 Ursuline students in grades seven through twelve have enjoyed the benefits of an Anywhere, Anytime Learning curriculum. Utilizing her own laptop computer, and Ursuline’s wireless local area network, each student is led by a teacher trained to enrich her learning experience in and beyond the classroom.

Susan Long, Principal of Ursuline’s Middle/Upper School, welcomed students and parents to Computer Camp and introduced Peyton Schofield and Ed Stewart, Director of Technology, and new Assistant Principal of the Upper/Middle School, Christine Perry, before leading the group in the traditional morning prayer.

Schofield reviewed for parents and students how to log on to Edline, where each teacher has a web page posting course information and homework assignments then discussed LanSchool, a classroom management software tool utilized by teachers. LanSchool allows a teacher to see on his or her monitor thumbnail images of the monitor of each student in the class. LanSchool allows teachers to assist students with their progress because the teacher can see how a student is moving through a lesson. If a student’s work is of note, and of help to other students, the teacher can even project that student’s monitor image on the large white board at the front of the classroom for all of the students to see. This feature is particularly useful in illustrating spreadsheets and science projects.

Parents then followed Susan Long to the cafeteria where Long gave a short talk emphasizing the benefits of an Anywhere, Anytime curriculum that came out of the study by Rockman, an independent research organization, in 2000. As I walked down the stairs to join the other parents in the cafeteria, I was overwhelmed by flashbacks of my own years at Ursuline—for a few seconds, I was transported back in time to the 1980s and could see the young faces of my friends and hear their laughter as we all headed to homeroom, which during our senior year, was in the cafeteria. As I pushed open the same glass doors that were there 25 years ago, and took my seat, it was hard to suppress my grin, and the funny feeling that I had done this oh so many times before! The fact that I was now a parent and not a student, hardly made sense to me.

Since purchasing a laptop is still a significant financial investment in a child’s education, Long made a point to share information with parents that is helpful in evaluating whether the positive outcome of one-to-one computer use is proportionate to the cost. Fortunately, the Rockman study underscored many ways one-to-one laptop use impacts a student’s work in a positive manner. In addition to higher quality and longer writing projects, and more collaborative learning among peers, the curriculum has been shown to foster critical thinking and problem solving skills, encourage self-directed learning, and to allow teachers to differentiate the speed of the lesson plan to accommodate students at disparate learning levels. In addition, Long also highlighted how parents can best protect the students’ new state-of-the-art laptops from viruses caused by downloading programs from the internet. Long encouraged parents to allow the Technology Department to lock down the machines thus preventing damage caused by downloads. In an effort to help parents further educate themselves and their daughters about internet safety and social networking, Ursuline provided a questionnaire for parents to answer regarding their daughters’ current level of computer use and parents’ level of interest in hearing speakers address internet safety issues.

Led by Schofield and Stewart, excited computer campers set up their laptops on tables in the auditorium. Using a Power Point presentation, Schofield illustrated the network, showing students the H: drive where each one has a folder where she can store school work, then taught students how to save documents to their folder. Schofield also demonstrated the global address book feature in the e-mail system that comes in handy when you want to send an e-mail to a teacher or friend and do not know the exact spelling of the name. Students also received log-in information and passwords for accessing the e-mail system from a remote location.

One-to-one student learning with laptops is becoming more widespread in the United States. Over the past ten years, as computers have become more affordable, more public and private schools have expanded the use of laptop computers by teachers and students. Ursuline Academy in Dallas, Texas was the first Ursuline school in the U.S. to begin the Anytime, Anywhere Learning curriculum in conjunction with Microsoft Corp. Recently, the Maryland state Board of Education drafted a comprehensive plan to introduce Anytime, Anywhere Technology to all public schools, including the goal of providing a one-to-one student to computer ratio in all public secondary schools by 2012.

Anytime, Anywhere Learning fosters increased communication between teachers and students, and creates an atmosphere in which students become more inquisitive and engaged—qualities most educators agree lead to personal achievement in college and professional life. Using laptops, Ursuline students have become apprentice scientists, researchers, writers, and scholars, discovering for themselves what authentic inquiry means. This apprentiship leads students to a richer educational experience and enables them to achieve a higher level of self-reliance that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Editor’s note: Karen Kegelman is an alumna from the Class of 1985. Her elder daughter, Elsa, is entering 7th grade and was one of the campers excited to receive her laptop at Camp on July 21.