School Superintendent Martha Dean realized that web-based learning could transform the academic opportunities and broaden horizons for her students. She wanted to build on the technology program West Virginia had put into place in the elementary schools. But she knew her high school students needed to go beyond the basic skills approach and transition to the self-directed learning activities they would need later in life. Dean chose the learning approach offered by NETSchools, which gives every student and teacher a laptop connected to a Local Area Network through infrared ports installed in each room. Once every student has a laptop and the infrared ports are in place, the entire campus becomes, in effect, a computer lab.
Students can connect in hallways, the cafeteria, and the library as well as in class.
It is not unusual to go down there and see kids with a sandwich in one hand and a keyboard in the other. Infrastructure was only the beginning. The school's T-1 connection meant everyone could surf the Web and find information. For Scott McGlumphy, a so-so student before the shift to connected laptops, Web access turned him into a student with a keen interest in anthropology and top grades. Our imagination is our only limit.