Students race to laptop time
Maranacook starts high-tech experi ment
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
READFIELD — A group of Maranacook Community Middle School seventh-graders scrambled to their classroom in record-breaking time Wednesday morning. The laptops had arrived.
White Apple iBooks rested on each desk, with tags listing a student's name. The previous class, foreign language, is held at the other end of the building.
"I've never seen them get here so quickly," said Melanie Mason, a seventh-grade teacher. 
Staff photo by JIM EVANS Joel Cloutier pays careful attention as he gets to know his new Apple Ibook computer Wednesday at Maranacook Community Middle School in Readfield. click to enlarge
The students will have access to about 50 laptops. Maranacook Community Middle School is one of nine middle schools in the state to serve as a demonstration site for the Maine Middle Schools for Learning Technology Initiative, also known as the laptop program.
The Maine Department of Education in December signed a four-year, $37.2 million contract with Apple computers to provide laptops, wireless networks and other services to seventh- and eighth-grade students and teachers around Maine. Other middle schools are scheduled to receive laptops in August 2002, according to the Department of Education.
Students had the opportunity during a one-hour session Wednesday to familiarize themselves with the computers. Kyle Vorpagel worked on an iMovie program, creating an animated title sequence called "The most famous movie ever." Jessica Crockett sat at a nearby desk looking up the meaning of her name on babynames.com for a writing class.
Jessica means "wealthy," she said.
Joel Cloutier found a Web site listing "cheat codes" for Playstation 2 video games. Cheat codes help players move up into higher levels of competition on a video game.
"Joel, honey, something else besides cheat codes, please," Mason said.
Danielle Field used her iBook to browse the Internet for horse equipment. She has an Arabian-quarter horse named Lady.
Students connected to the Internet through a wireless connection called an "airport" near the ceiling. Most classrooms in the school have them, Mason said.
"It's a tremendous help and the beauty of it is kids can take it anywhere in the building without having to be plugged in to a network," Mason said.
Seventh-grade teacher Sherrie Pelletier looked forward to the research students will be able to do with the laptops, each of which weighs four pounds.
Maranacook Community Middle School Principal Mary Callan said students can work on a variety of assignments with them, based on her observations of Guilford Middle School students and their laptop work.
Guilford Industries, a railroad company, donated the computers to that school.
"The level of off-task behavior is greatly reduced," she said. "They're focused."
Callan said she thinks the laptops can provide access to technology and new information while broadening the aspirations of students.
Callan said no decision has been made on whether students will be able to take laptops home. She said because Maranacook is a demonstration site for the state laptop program, she is leaning toward letting students take them outside of school.
Before any decision is made, parents will meet at the school to discuss the program, Callan said.
The school will use filtering devices to prevent students from entering inappropriate Web sites on the Internet.
Maranacook may use Guilford Middle School's laptop program as a model for student computer policy, Callan said. Guilford students have "driver's licenses" for Internet access.
If a student violates the policy, that student loses Internet access for two weeks.
Other students who do not have access to the laptops will be able to use the school's Gateway laptops. Although fewer in number, they will have wireless Internet access, Callan said.
The iBooks are stored in the school's computer server room, which can be locked while the laptops recharge.
Seventh-grade teachers will have laptop training Thursday and Friday. Teachers from the area will begin to visit Maranacook Community Middle School next month to learn more about using laptops in their own classrooms.
Michael Reagan — 623-3811, ext. 431
mreagan@centralmaine.com