Oct 6, 2008 7:41 pm US/Eastern
NY School Provides Laptops, Free Home Internet
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
BRONX (CBS) ―
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Some local schools are going high tech with a special device that'll let them access school work 24/7, from the classroom or from home.
CBS
Some local schools are going high tech with a special device that'll let them access school work 24/7, from the classroom or from home.
A school in the South Bronx is going hi-tech, with special low-cost computers and free internet access at home.
Fifth graders from PS-5 in the Port Morris section of the Bronx are excited. All eyes are on their new XO laptop computers, donated to the school by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, who designed them years ago for children in developing countries.
The computers normally cost just $200, and will be given to every student in the school to use and take home from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade.
"By browsing I learned about New York state, I learned about the election," Fifth grader Jeron Randolph said.
"I think it's going to make them really smart, because [there are] some things they may not know," fifth grader Antonio Lagual said. "[Now] they can go on the computer and search for it, and find out more about it."
Before the XO, the older students were able to get on a computer at school 2 or 3 times a week, and Principal Mary Padilla says only about 25% of her students had access to a computer at home.
She sees the new computers as a gift to both her students and their parents.
"We want to be able to have the parents come in and do more things with the computers with their children," Padilla said. "Many of them don't have the means to do that. We're giving it to them."
The school will also start experimenting with giving each student free internet access at home, through a community mesh network, so everyone can learn 24/7.
"As a teacher, if I have 2 kids that can not access the internet at home, I can't use it because I'm not going to create a learning environment that all my kids don't have access to," Lynette Guastaferro, of Teaching Matters, said. "So it's part of the deal – if we're going to have a 21st century education, we have to provide it to all of our kids."
By next month, the school will start experimenting with home internet access for many of the students, and hopefully expand it to the whole school by January.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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