If the effectiveness of giving every student a laptop were measured in enthusiasm, the results so far in the West Bend School District would show success.
Just ask some of the students at Silverbrook Middle School who learned late last year they would participate in a 150-student pilot program of one-to-one computing in the district.
“We were all really excited,” said eighth-grader Jaclyn Utrie, 14. “We would ask like every day, ‘When are we going to get them?’ ”
The enthusiasm hasn’t died four weeks after the computers arrived, but now it’s accompanied by responsibility. They have to prove that giving every student a laptop can improve education, not just in West Bend but also to other schools in the area considering a similar step.
Although several schools in the Milwaukee area, mostly small and private, have given laptops to students or required them to bring their own, West Bend could be the first to experiment with a large, multi-school program.
“What I’m hoping is, if this works, then everyone will have the chance to have one,” said Tom Balestrieri, 14, another Silverbrook eighth-grader.
The weight’s not entirely on the shoulders of the West Bend students. Some other school districts in the state also are starting to experiment with universal laptop programs.
The Pewaukee School District plans to start distributing some sort of portable technology – be it laptop, tablet or hand-held device – to its eighth-graders in fall.