Olander School Implements Netbooks For Kids

Little kids can be a lot more clever than you think. Take fourth-grader Maddie M. from the Olander School of Project Based Learning, for example:

“It’s a lot easier to learn on a netbook computer because you can learn two things at once… I can learn math and reading at the same time I am learning to use a computer.”

The computer-savvy among us tend to forget that computer skills need to grow from somewhere, and that’s an idea kids like Maddie have been benefiting from ever since Olander purchased 120 netbooks for all of its fourth- and fifth-graders. Despite the fun the kids seem to be having with them, teacher Steve Gravelle rationalized their use in the classroom:

“Netbooks are not toys. They are powerful learning tools that are integrated with district curriculum and link students to the real world and its expectations… Netbooks allow each individual student to work at his or her own level and get immediate feedback about their progress. For example, students can take a multiplication test and instantly see which problems were incorrect without waiting for me to correct and return their tests to them.”

Gravelle’s class will be using their netbooks to develop a low-scale monthly newspaper about Olander. Other anticipated programs include a correspondence with Australian students (perhaps using their own netbooks?) for collaboration on a joint project.

Via Coloradoan.