Tech tools rule in Westhampton Beach schools

For a seventh-grade social studies project on Native Americans, Bobbi Rifkin and her classmates divided into groups and created PowerPoint presentations on food, clothing, art, dance, religion and language.

All the work was done on MacBook laptops that had been distributed to each student.

"We usually use them in every subject and for different purposes," said Bobbi, 12. "In science, we learned how to create a wet-mount slide, and we use them for an English paper or for Spanish. We use them in every single subject."

The Westhampton Beach school district began giving out laptop computers in 2004. Last year, the program switched to the Apple MacBook. Students in grades 4-12 and all instructional staff receive a MacBook for class and home use - accounting for most of the district's 1,975 laptops that are leased at a cost of about $633,000 a year, about 1.3 percent of the overall school budget.

Students in grades K-3 also have access to laptop and desktop computers in their classrooms. The district is wireless and all classrooms are equipped with digital projection capability and interactive whiteboards.

"We clearly have shifted to more student-centered learning," said Michael Radday, assistant superintendent for personnel and instruction. "We saw technology as a means to help the teacher to make a shift away from the lecture format."

The teacher now acts more like a facilitator, he said, with students more active participants and taking more ownership for their learning by working in groups on inquiry-based activities. They do more research and teach one another.

Technology director William Fisher said the district has seen a steady increase in test scores, as have many districts.

Measuring the effect on test scores of the "one-to-one computing initiative" is difficult, said Radday, adding that the skills learned in this type of environment are not measured well on traditional tests.

"We are most concerned with preparing students to be successful in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world," he said. "We want them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers."

"I would say there is no question that we would do it again," Radday said. "We continue to view technology as an integral part of the instructional program. It is critical to providing our students with the world-class education they deserve."