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Redondo Union High School is a beautiful school built atop a small hill in a Los Angeles suburb. The building consists of red brick, with the white walls and green landscaping creating a vivid contrast in the rays of the warm California sun, enveloping the school in a bright, friendly atmosphere. This upbeat image is certainly not limited to the buildings, with the teachers and the students all exuding a healthy and pleasant impression.
The attitude toward education here also runs in the progressive vein, with a plan to introduce laptop computers for students to both use at school and home commenced in the spring of 1997. A year later, the pilot program got off the ground.
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The classrooms have infrared ports installed in the ceilings, enabling the laptops to log online as soon as their lids are opened. Reports Redondo Union High student Shannon: "We also send our homework to the teachers by e-mail. The teachers respond by e-mail, then we write more messages and so forth and so on. It's lots of fun."
They also access the Internet in their everyday routine, and Julia offered the following comments: "It's really fun to engage in exchanges with people far away. For example, I communicate with my relatives who live in Korea, in Korean, by e-mail!"
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| Says a teacher named Pat, who is in charge of the technical side of this project: "The pace in the classroom has really picked up. In the past we would advise students to search for something in the library, with the homework assignment then due the next day. But now, it's possible to access the data right on the spot. What's more, the students are becoming less aware of the actual presence of their computers. Used on an everyday basis in this manner, the computer is coming to be accepted as part of their daily routine." Guidance counselor Shannon: "These laptop computers have provided our students with confidence, while the teachers are also making greater efforts than ever before. The result is closer ties between teachers and students, while I feel the psychological distances are also shrinking between the students and their parents, as well as between the school and their parents."
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The particular laptops were selected because they do not require cords, are tough to damage, feature extended battery service life, and rarely ever suffer breakdowns. There are instances, however, when maintenance is required because of excessive software demands made by the students. At such times, the laptops are sent to this room. Here, in addition to expert staff, computer savvy upperclassmen also pitch in to support the repairs.
This room also contains a server, making it possible to monitor the status of all laptops. As a result, messages are often sent to the students from this room, such as: "George, are you aware that your laptop power is turned off?"
There is no doubt that the Internet Generation is bringing new supporting tools to the stage of today's emerging classroom drama.
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·Redondo Union High School
The home page of Redondo Union High School.
Using QuickTimeVR, it is possible to take a "virtual walk" around this campus.
http://www.bnet.org/rbsd/ruhs/
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