An initiative to improve student achievement by making laptop technology available to every elementary school student in the state is expanding this month with the addition of 12 schools.
One Laptop per Child /South Carolina is a partnership between the nonprofit Palmetto Project, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the State Department of Education. State Superintendent Jim Rex and Steve Skardon of the Palmetto Project accepted a $500,000 donation today from Blue Cross Blue Shield division president and CEO David Pankau to help fund the expansion.
The laptop program was piloted last year in rural Marion School District 7. That rollout has been highly successful, garnering positive response from students, parents and the community. School officials expect test results at the end of the year to show students are performing better since technology has been integrated into teaching and learning.
“We believe that working with a school-issued laptop will help our students improve their academic skills and inspire them to set goals and achieve great things in their lives,” Rex said. “Thanks to our partners in this project, we’re making a bold commitment to prepare South Carolina’s children to become true leaders in the global economy of the 21st century.”
The neon green and white XO laptops used in the project look like toys with their rounded edges, kid-sized plastic handles and rubber-membrane keyboards, but they’re equipped with a camera, microphone, stereo speakers and a screen that rotates into a tablet configuration.
The laptops are spill-proof, rain-proof, dust-proof and drop-proof. Students can use them to draw pictures, compose music, read and listen to books, collaborate on classroom projects and play games.
The computers were designed by One Laptop per Child, a nonprofit organization created to manufacture and distribute inexpensive technology to children in the world's poorest countries. The $200 computers are supplied at no charge to students, although parents must attend one of several seminars offered on laptop use and care and sign user agreements.
Schools for the expanded program were selected based on student need and the capability of teachers and administrators to implement the initiative successfully. Schools being added this month include:
● Chester Park Technology Center, Chester
● Mountain View Elementary, Taylors
● India Hook Elementary, Rock Hill
● Buffalo Elementary, Buffalo
● Foster Park Elementary, Union
● Monarch Elementary, Union
● Sandy Run Elementary, Swansea
● Vance-Providence Elementary, Vance
● North Vista Elementary, Florence
● Rice Creek Elementary, Columbia
● Port Royal Elementary, Port Royal
● North Charleston Elementary, North Charleston
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