Carroll has become the first public school district in Iowa to provide lap top computers to all students in one grade. Superintendent Steve Shultz says the district used property tax money that’s earmarked for equipment and got laptops with wireless connections for all seventh graders. Shultz says the state of Maine recently provided every seventh grader in the state with a computer they could use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He says his interest was piqued by the early successes that’re now being realized in Maine. So, three months ago the Carroll district handed out one-hundred-35 laptops to 7th grade students and their teachers. Shultz says it’s really not about the device. He says it’s about “engaging students, changing teaching and enhancing learning.” Shultz says the laptops are strictly learning tools, and aren’t “Game Boys” or anything like that. Carroll 7th grader Katy Gorman does most of her work and takes notes on the laptop. Gorman says her school work is a lot easier this year because the laptop’s a lot faster. She says most people can type faster and you don’t have to erase anything — it can just be deleted. Gorman was at the statehouse yesterday, along with her superintendent and teacher, to talk about the “one-on-one” laptop initiative in Carroll.
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