Schools chief sees future in computer textbooks

Soon, students won't be able to claim they couldn't do homework because they forgot their textbooks. Nor can they say they lost it. Or that Fido ate it.

The textbooks will be online. And so will the finished homework.

Carlos Garcia, Clark County school superintendent, sees the day when students have their own laptop computers. If things move as he hopes, that day is only a couple years away.

Besides being able to access homework assignments, students and parents will use home computers to review lessons, access their grades, view tardiness records, check test scores, communicate with teachers and get bilingual help. Personal identification numbers will control access to students' information.

The U.S. Department of Education's Secretary's National Conference on Educational Technology in September concluded that students who use a laptop as an everyday learning tool are better writers, more collaborative and get more involved in their schoolwork.

"What will be tough will be targeting parents," Garcia said. "Because if you don't give them training in how to use this, they'll be left behind."

To prevent that, parents will have to get instruction before any computer is issued to their child.

One system being tested in the United States is sponsored by Microsoft. The program, called Anytime Anywhere, began in 1997 with 52 schools and has grown to more than 800 schools with 125,000 students and teachers using laptops. One school on the three-year-old test program saw its number of ninth-graders meeting writing standards go from 70 to 81 percent.

Whichever system is ultimately decided upon for Clark County, computers will be hooked to a Wide Area Network, which allows many functions and can expand as needed. But before a WAN can be implemented, classrooms must first have telephones. Simple as that seems, Garcia estimated 80 percent of schools in the district do not have phones in their classrooms.

Setting up the WAN will cost $20 million plus $20 million for the phones. The cost is a stumbling block.

"Everybody wants new technology but nobody wants to pay for it," Garcia said.

For the 1999-2000 school years, the district spent $10 million on textbooks. Textbooks, Garcia said, which quickly become obsolete but are necessary for now. He likened making changes while keeping schools operating to "driving down the freeway while trying to do an oil change."

Garcia agreed his two-year time window may be optimistic, but a "computer for every student" concept is the way of the future.

It may seem pricey initially, he said, but $10 million will be saved each year by using WAN versus computers operating on regular phone service.

Depending on the final system chosen, WAN will cost anywhere from $2 to $100 per student, Garcia said. School personnel now responsible for each school's computer labs will either be retrained or a new position added to keep the system operating.

Christy Falba, coordinator for elementary instructional technology, said the district is looking into half a dozen devices. An important consideration is whether manufacturers are willing to upgrade the systems as the technology takes off. Falba is also looking for devices that rate high in readability, can easily connect to Web resources and have the capacity to play video clips.

Palm-sized computers are being considered for Centennial High School and digital textbooks for Rogich Middle School. The district is also looking into digital library books for elementary schools. Once the pilot programs are in place, Falba expects them to run two years before data can accurately evaluate the effectiveness.

"But we can't do anything until the money is approved," she said. "It all comes down to funding."