BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WOODLAWN -- They are more powerful than a textbook, able to hold the lengthiest assignments, and withstand even the toughest kid.
They are laptops.
And in a few months, they will replace computer terminals in classrooms here, allowing students to learn at their own pace, surf the Web for information and communicate via e-mail from home.
"When you prepare workers for the 21st century, you have to prepare them with a technology-rich environment," said Ann Boyle, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Princeton Schools. "You can't do that with textbooks and paper exclusively."
Woodlawn and Glendale elementaries will be the first in the district to receive notebook computers as part of a program aimed at providing a computer for every Princeton student within five years.
The first 400 laptops will go 400 students at the two schools -- first through third grade at Woodlawn, first through sixth at Glendale. Each will be assigned his or her laptop, and may keep it during the summer to keep skills fresh.
Educators see new technology as a way to help enhance critical thinking and improve writing skills.
"We've done computers in the classroom. Now we need to look at how to put technology in the hands of every student beyond the constraints of school," Ms. Boyle said.
Schools in the Princeton district will not be the first to go the way of the laptop. Other schools like Cincinnati Country Day School in Indian Hill have used laptops. Beginning with the freshman class in 1999-2000, Moeller High School will require all students to be equipped with a laptop computer.
Notebook computers will link to a school's main network server and to the Internet through a connection in the classroom. Instead of wires, the computers are linked via infrared technology.
Teachers can send class instructions, assignments and other information to their students. Curriculum can be installed on the server, along with textbooks and other materials.
Teachers can use their own computer to retrieve homework assignments. They can instantly send e-mail to a student, a group of students or everyone in the classroom.
The system is being being provided by California-based NetSchools Corp., which has furnished systems for 15 districts across the country. Princeton is the first Ohio district to use the system. About $300,000 -- $200,000 from from the Ohio SchoolNet program and $100,000 from the district's permanent improvement funds -- will be used to begin installing the technology.
The laptops -- designed specifically for younger children -- are about $1,000 apiece. The server and the teacher's laptops add to the overall cost.
On any given day in Yvonne Scott's second-grade class at Woodlawn Elementary, the computer terminal is the most popular place to be. Mrs. Scott, a teacher for 30 years, is eager for her students to get started using laptops in her classroom.
"I'm extremely excited about it," she said. "This is a great time to be teaching."
Educators are just as excited at Glendale Elementary.
"This is an incredible opportunity for learning," said Kathy Haller, principal at Glendale Elementary. "Last year, the teachers decided to disassemble the computer lab and get them into the classroom. We see this as the next wave."
The laptops also will allow parents to see their child's homework and class assignments and send e-mail to teachers to inquire about a student's progress.
"Homework is being redefined by technology and society constraints. Parental involvement in the educational process has to be redefined as well," Ms. Boyle said. "Parents are working and have less time so communication has to be instantaneous at home and school."
Parental involvement will become a key component in this process of changing over to laptops. Along with their children, parents will be instructed in how to use the machines and teachers will be trained on how to encourage parents to take an active role in using the laptops.
"We are planning some family workshops," Ms. Boyle said. "We think this is a wonderful opportunity."
The district hopes the laptops will help raise student achievement and proficiency test scores.
"Children learn when drawn by their own curiosity. They are not curious about textbooks. They are curious about things that move and their ability to get onto the Web," Ms. Boyle said.
If the computer is lost or stolen, it will be of no use to anyone else. Each computer has an internal clock that makes the computer useless unless it is returned to the server.
"It becomes an expensive paperweight if stolen," said Lou Fournier, manager of marketing and communications for NetSchools. The rough-and-tumble nature of children has been taken into account as well.
"It can be dropped. You can stand on it. It's waterproof. It has no moving parts, no hard drive, no floppy drive," said Mr. Fournier. "It's really meant to withstand the worst a kid can do."
