ACSD students issued laptop computers through 1:1 Initiative

Allamakee Community School District's junior high and high school students were issued laptop computers over the past week as the District's 1:1 Initiative gets underway for the upcoming school year. Junior high students were each issued a Dell "netbook" computer (top photo at right) and high school students were issued more powerful Dell laptop computers (bottom photo at right).
Waukon Junior High Principal Joe Griffith said that the computers would transform teaching and learning in the District, allowing kids to become "creators and producers."
"Today we're in experimental times," said Waukon Senior High Principal Dan Diercks. "Schools are struggling to keep up in the digital age. How and what we teach has to change." He added that while the computers are powerful tools, students will still need to learn and teachers will still need to teach.
Parents were encouraged, but not required, to purchase insurance for the computers, allowing students to take the computers home. Students without internet access at home were encouraged to join afterschool programs and to make use of wireless internet access at area public libraries (or anywhere else they might find an open signal).
Students' online activities will be carefully monitored through a filtering system called Lightspeed. Attempts to view inappropriate material will be blocked and school administrators will be notified by email of any attempts to view inappropriate material. Additionally, social media sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, may only be accessed between 4 and 10 p.m. Lightspeed will also prevent executable files from being downloaded and provide protection from computer viruses.
Both parents and teachers were cautioned that what is posted on the internet is not private and may be viewed by anyone. Parents were also advised to place limits on their children's computer usage and to establish a regular time and place for doing homework.
While parents are permitted to use the student computers, they were cautioned not to become too attached, as the students would be expected to bring the computer to school each day.