By Taylor Seal
Associate Editor

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne small laptop. That is possibly all that students will need to carry, starting in 2014. Heavy textbooks and large book bags will no longer be needed to transport everything each student needs to do his homework.

Principal Arty Tillett said that in a constantly evolving world, technology change will inevitably take place. Secondary schools in Dare County will most likely be going one-to-one in the upcoming school years with hopes for the program to eventually be placed in the elementary schools. A one-to-one program provides each student with his or her own laptop for educational use.

Two goals of the North Carolina State Board of Education are that North Carolina Public Schools will be led by 21st Century professionals and will be governed and supported by 21st century systems, according to NCPublicSchools.gov.

Tillett said flip learning could be one possible change that accompanies the new one-to-one program. The idea of flip learning requires students listen to recorded lessons at home and then work on the lessons in school the next day with a teacher present.

“The future of how education will be delivered is going to be radically different. I’m excited about it, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Tillett said. “I think kids will be more motivated by it because kids generally are not anxious about the technologies that are out there.”

Not all students think that using computers for everything will be beneficial for their learning.

“I feel that although the concept seems beneficial and ‘futuristic,’ it will eliminate many of the crucial aspects of a classroom environment, like class discussions and student interaction,” junior Molly Weybright said.

This increasing availability of and use of technology means changes in education for schools, teachers and students.

“It allows kids to do things on a 24/seven spectrum instead of just in isolated pockets. A student could be doing multiple projects simultaneously all saved on their laptop. Teachers could do interdisciplinary work, teaching the same thing at the same time,” Tillett said.

The needs of FFHS will have to be considered when picking a device. Cost will have to be considered as well as functionality of the device, said Carl Woody, Dare County Schools Technology Director.

Tillett said, there are advantages to using a one-to-one system. After a device has been chosen and purchased, there will be no additional need for textbooks. A large portion of the school’s budget is used for textbook costs. This money would be used to pay for the new devices.

“I think buying laptops would be a great improvement in our school,“ sophomore Anna Culpepper said. “Using new technology will help students learn in a 21st Century environment and will enable us to be more successful when we are applying for jobs in the future.”

Gov. Pat McCrory suggested taking a portion of the money used in lottery advertising to advance technology in schools in his State of the State Address on Feb. 18.

“If school districts were to use (lottery money) for technology, that money might be available and I was very excited to hear that he is talking about that,” Tillett said.

Lottery spokesman Van Denton is worried about losing advertising revenue. In a statement released to the media, he said he was worried about the reduction of advertising leading to the reduction of sales which would eventually cause a decrease in the money allocated for education.

Woody said that this year FFHS has seen a lot of improvement in using technology for education. Teachers have started to use the Google Chromebooks and are more frequently using Haiku, a process very similar to one-to-one.

“I feel that the one-to-one program will be very beneficial to both myself and my peers academic careers,” junior Mick Stanovsek said.

Tillett said FFHS has been monitoring school districts using the one-to-one program for awhile.

“My hope is that it makes things not only more user-friendly but also changes the way we teach and learn so that our system is more rigorous and more relevant in a more real world application instead of isolation and theory,” Tillett said. “The exciting thing for me is that it’s going to make learning relevant. It will allow us to do what we always say we do – rigor, relevance and relationships.”

The official Technology Plan for the 2009-13 school years mentions the preparation for a one-to-one program, and that every graduate will have a computer issued by their school.

“We’ve seen incredible results from schools that are going one-to-one. I think from a student’s standpoint it excites the students a little bit more because they have a device,” Woody said. “It is a different way to learn. Ideally you would have all of your textbooks on (the device). I think FFHS is probably on the leading edge of using the Web-related resources.”

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