Students Going Back to School with Tablet Computers

This school year ninth and tenth grade students attending Stonewall Jackson, Gar-field and Freedom high schools in Prince William County will be receiving tablets for educational use.

A.J. Phillips, Supervisor of Instructional Technology for Prince William County Schools, believes the tablets will be “a real benefit for the students.”

Virginia schools that were not fully accredited for the 2013-14 school year based upon Standard of Learning (SOL) tests administered in the spring of 2013 qualified to participate in the statewide education program via the Virginia e-Learning Backback Initiative supplemental grant, which provides 80 percent funding for purchase of Asus T100s tablets.

Students who are receiving tablets this year will have them for use throughout the rest of their high school careers, though they can only keep them when school is in session. Next year, incoming freshman will also receive tablets. Phillips said PWCS plans to evaluate the condition of the tablets turned in by graduating seniors at that time to determine if they are fit to be reused by the next incoming class.

Four thousand tablets will be distributed to the three county schools for the 2014-15 school year, and four thousand more will go to incoming ninth grade students over the following two years.

As each tablet costs $400, Prince William will pay about $640,000 for its share of the tablet costs over the next three years. Phillips said the School Board has been made aware of costs as a budget request was put forth in the FY15 budget. Principals also had a say in the purchasing of the tablets, as the decision to participate was made at the school level.

“The [Asus T100s] is a Windows based tablet and works well with our migration to Office 365,” Phillips said. “Also it has an 11 hour battery life, keyboard accessory, USB port, camera, 2GB of RAM, Wi-Fi enabled, lightweight, built in speakers and microphone,”

Phillips believes the tablets will be a beneficial tool to students in helping them in the classroom and prepare them for the modern workplace.

“Technology can enhance learning through increased student engagement, while at the same time advancing the objectives of the Virginia Standards of Learning and the National Technology Standards (NETS),” he said. “The main goal of such an initiative would not be the technology. In today’s society it is increasingly important for students to be adept in the use of technology to facilitate immediate gains in achievement and content knowledge, to gain essential skills for success in higher education, the workplace and a community of ‘digital citizens.”

Phillips said members of his department are “focused on the value of the tablets for student learning, rather than on the possibility of potential problems with use of the tablets or having them returned to the schools.”

However, he said that tablets would be covered under PWC “responsible and acceptable use” policies. And as with textbooks, if tablets are not returned, students or their parents would be expected to reimburse the school division.

Students are also expected to adhere to the Student Code of Behavior and Acceptable Use Policies. Students will be expected to bring their tablets to school with them every day.

“This will be a big improvement in access to technology for the students at the three high schools. Use of the technology in the classroom will give help increase achievement, content knowledge, and learn to become digital citizens.”

This story was published under a collaborative editorial partnership with Bristow Beat.