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Whitchurch Combined School

Innovative ICT Project: Using laptops to bring ICT into the classroom

The objective of the project was to make computers available in the classrooms as tools which could be seamlessly integrated into normal teaching strategies. Whilst we already had a well equipped ICT room, not every lesson needed the whole class using a computer. What we wanted to achieve was a means by which teachers could get one group of children using computers as their key resource for learning, whilst their classmates were engaged in a range of other activities.

Using the funding available, we bought 8 'Rock Textbook' laptops. We chose these machines because:

  • they seemed sturdily built (and have since proven to be fairly reliable)
  • had CD-ROM, floppy drive, sound, modem and network card built in
  • were competitively priced
  • were compact enough (about an A4 size 'footprint') to have two next to each other on a standard desk (even though this means the keys are a little small for adults with large hands)

The funding we received also allowed us to purchase an NEC data projector.

Aims of the Project

  • Our target was to complete 6 learning projects using this technology in the first two terms. We managed this in the first six weeks! Some of the most successful projects have been:
  • 8 laptops running various CD-ROM encyclopedias in one classroom, being used alongside printed resources, to provide research facilities for a history project.
  • Datalogging equipment attached to laptop, taken to various locations around the school site. On return to the classroom, the laptop was linked to a printer so that a hard copy of the data could be made. Pairs of children then used the laptops to write collaboratively about their interpretations of the data.
  • A 'make a web page' project in which children summarised key points of their history project on to any of the laptops available in their room. They also added collaborative story writing based on their history work. Images were scanned in from their folders. All the data was transferred to one machine, edited and published on the school's web site.
  • A difficult-to-motivate group of children with moderate learning difficulties used '2-Simple' on the laptops to record in words and pictures their learning in a geography lesson.

Outcomes from the project

The data projector, linked to one of the laptops, has been used in class on numerous occasions to demonstrate programs - or to use various programs as teaching tools. However, we have not as yet gone for an interactive whiteboard due to reservations about transportability in our split level building.

The project has certainly been a success. An added bonus has been that the machines have been available for teachers to borrow, and we have used a laptop plus the projector for presentations to parents. The only thing I think we might have done differently would have been to go for a different brand of laptop with the same facilities, but a larger keyboard which would be easier for teachers to use. For the future, we may add network ports in our classrooms so that the laptops can access the internet and share files more easily.