LaptopSC.org

GRESHAM – Five hundred kindergarten and elementary students in one of the state’s most rural school districts will receive their own personal laptop computers beginning this week as part of a new campaign to make South Carolina the first state with laptop technology in its primary grades.

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex announced the initiative Monday at a press conference at Britton’s Neck Elementary in Marion School District Seven. That school, along with Rains Centenary Early Childhood Center in Mullins, is a pilot site for “One Laptop per Child/SC.”

Rex said the pilot is a partnership between the South Carolina Department of Education and the non-profit Palmetto Project and is underwritten with private funding. It has the potential to expand to every school district in South Carolina.

“Our goal is to promote affordable laptop technology for students and communities across the state,” Rex said. “Students who can get technology into their hands early will have a head start on acquiring the kinds of computer skills they’ll need for learning at all stages of life.”

The XO laptops were developed by One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization created by Nicholas Negroponte and others from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. Charleston entrepreneur Phil Noble worked with Negroponte to bring the idea to South Carolina.

“By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future,” Negroponte said.

“These laptops are all about a much bigger picture,” Noble said. “If we want a better South Carolina, with better jobs, better SAT scores and a better prepared workforce, this is the key. If we fail to act now, our children will be playing catch-up their entire lives.”

The XO laptops are spillproof, rainproof, dustproof and drop-proof. They have a keyboard designed for children’s small hands and come loaded with easy to use software, a built-in camera, built-in microphone and stereo speakers, and a screen that rotates into a tablet configuration. The cost of each computer is currently less than $180.

District officials plan the first XO laptop distribution at a parent meeting May 13 at Rains Centenary. After tips on laptop care and use, parents will sign user agreements for the center’s four- and five-year-old kindergarten students. A parent meeting and distribution for students at Britton’s Neck Elementary will be held May 20.

Executive director Steve Skardon said the program fits the Palmetto Project’s mission to “put new ideas to work solving problems in South Carolina.” Since its founding in 1984, the non-profit agency has formed more than 180 public-private partnerships to work on issues ranging from education and health care to race relations and election reform.

“Since 2001, the Palmetto Project has been a leader in using cutting edge technology to improve math and reading skills for students,” Skardon said. “Everyone realizes that mastery of computer technology will determine whether the next generation of South Carolinians can compete in a global economy. Marion Seven’s teachers and students will help us understand how to make the best use of this amazing educational resource.”

Skardon said a One Laptop per Child/SC interactive website at www.onelaptopsc.org will track the district’s progress and help raise funds for expanding the program to other areas in the state.

“Several communities are already interested,” Skardon said. “We are open to working anywhere in South Carolina. We hope to be able to order another 5,000 laptops in August.”

Pilot program funding was provided by Greenville executive Erwin Maddrey and by Charleston businesswoman and philanthropist Linda Ketner, who called the initiative “a small but critical step in preparing our children for success in a very competitive world.”

“Computer competence will give these children advantages in everything from academics to getting a job or running a business,” Ketner said. “The question is not if we can afford to do this, but whether we can afford not to do it.”

Marion Seven superintendent Everette Dean said the district plans to integrate XO laptops into its summer programs for students. Teachers and media specialists also will be trained on how to use the new technology.

“We’re grateful to be able to offer so many of our students a chance for creative learning and problem-solving experiences,” Dean said. “The more they’re exposed to technology as part of everyday life, the sooner they can become more comfortable with it.”

Dean said the district’s Creek Bridge High School is taking part in a separate pilot – the iAm Laptop Program – that provides computers for its 77 ninth-graders and their teachers. Clemson University’s Strom Thurmond Institute of Public Policy is monitoring and reviewing that program.

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