Using Laptop Computers as Learning Tools

Thu Mar 5 21:07:39 EST 1998

Feature

Anytime Anywhere Learning 

http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/grant.htm

Imagine a school... 

Imagine a school... Where every student has his or her own portable
computer, uses it like a pencil and paper, can learn anytime or
anywhere, and can produce the caliber of work that would be accepted
in boardrooms around the world. 

Where every teacher has his or her own portable computer,
communicates with parents and students over e-mail, collaborates with
other teachers online, and can integrate technology into the
curriculum anytime, anywhere. 

Where parents, communities, and businesses become active participants
in educating children and are true partners with the school. 

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Bill Gates Talks With Harlem Sixth-Graders About
Using Laptop Computers as Learning Tools

Special to the CSS Internet News

Link at http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/grant.htm

	NEW YORK - March 4, 1998 - Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of
Microsoft Corp., joined by New York City Community District Six
Superintendent Anthony Amato, visited Harlem's Mott Hall School to speak
with sixth-graders about an innovative new initiative to use laptop
computers as personal learning tools. Gates has visited with young
people in schools and public libraries more than a dozen times in the
past two years to discover how librarians, teachers and students are
using PCs to improve teaching and learning.

"This is a terrific example of PCs unlocking students' curiosity and
creativity," Gates said. "Janice Gordon's class at Mott Hall was one of
the pioneer schools in the United States that adopted this laptop
computer program. I am really impressed with the ways Janice and her
students are using personal computers and the Internet to make learning
fun. They should be proud of what they've accomplished in just a year
and a half.

"Schools need great teachers like Janice in addition to the basic tools
necessary to let learning happen," Gates continued. "Schools like Mott
Hall show that when PCs, the Internet and great software are part of the
mix, learning becomes even more exciting for kids." 

Microsoft also announced a software donation of $900,000 (estimated
retail value) for computer centers in New York's United Neighborhood
Houses. The software will be used in the settlement houses' learning
centers, local technology "family rooms" that will provide tools for
education, job-skills preparation and recreation.

During the 1996-97 school year, Mott Hall School in Community District
Six was one of 52 public and private schools that pioneered the Anytime,
Anywhere Learning vision, in which students and teachers can use
personal laptop computers as learning tools 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.  At present, more than 20,000 students in 250 schools nationwide
have access to laptop computers 100 percent of the time. 

At Mott Hall School, students showed Gates how they have used their
laptops to enhance classroom activities. 

"To research my presentation, I downloaded pages from the Internet,"
said sixth-grader Justina Foggie about a recent project she did on
nuclear energy. "Then I used the thesaurus and dictionaries on my
computer to look up all the words I didn't understand and find out what
they meant." 

	Gordon is teaching this class of laptop learners for the second
year. She described the dramatic transformation that has occurred in her
classroom over the past 18 months.  

"My expectations for the children and their perceptions of what they can
achieve have changed," Gordon said. "They now work to master each
assignment. They don't just want it to be good. They want it to be
perfect, and they all believe they can achieve anything they want."  

Microsoft provides schools with curriculum ideas, best practices and
case studies, as well as connections to potential solutions for
hardware, financing, insurance and training. Microsoft and Toshiba
America Information Systems Inc. also are funding a three-year
independent study to measure the impact that using one full-featured
laptop per student has on teaching and learning. 

Results of a yearlong pilot study of the 52 pioneer schools reveal
consistent reports from teachers on the powerful impact that Anytime,
Anywhere Learning is having on how teachers teach and what students
accomplish. Teachers reported that the greatest impact of Anytime,
Anywhere Learning is that laptop computers allow the students to take
greater responsibility for their learning and to access the curriculum
in ways that reflect their individual needs.

Gates' visit to Mott Hall School and Microsoft's support of Anytime,
Anywhere Learning is part of the company's continuing efforts to help
create a global "Connected Learning Community" in which all students and
educators have access to technology and information online to support
learning today and for a lifetime. 

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of
products and services for business and personal use, each designed with
the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take
advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

-----------------------

Also in this issue:

- Bill Gates Talks With Harlem Sixth-Graders About
  Using Laptop Computers as Learning Tools
- Women's history is abundant on the Web
    'Remember the ladies," Abigail Adams urged her husband, John. He
    didn't.
    Do we really remember "the ladies"? Quickly -- name five women you
    actually studied in school.
- CANADIAN JOURNALISTS CONDEMN INTIMIDATION TACTICS
    OTTAWA, March 5 /CNW/ - Journalists across Canada are shocked and
    appalled that a reporter with CBC Radio in Vancouver may be the
    target of a death threat from a biker gang.
- Massive hack attacks come to light
    A battle involving computer attackers, network defenders and FBI
    agents is reverberating on the Internet in words as well as actions.
- Faster Net access may be coming to a hotel near you
    Business travelers may be gaining faster Internet access from their
    hotel rooms in coming months with a product called IPort, jointly
    developed by Microsoft, Atcom/Info, and CGX Communications.
- New Lists and Journals
    * INTEL OWNER'S CLUB - Intel's Free Monthly Newsletter...
    * NoteWorthy - Discussion of NoteWorthy Composer Software
    * DriftWood - Web Music Ezine from Australia

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