Today’s children are born into a digital world that is changing rapidly. To be competitive in this environment, Edgecombe County Public Schools students must receive an education that is significantly different from that of their parents and many of their teachers. The One-to-One (1:1) Laptop Initiative for ECPS high schools has been structured to change way teaching and learning are accomplished in Edgecombe County.

The district has received an initial grant from the Golden LEAF of $1.5 million to provide laptop computers for use by all high school students (grades 9-12). In addition, high school teachers will be issued laptops and receive extensive training on the use of technology and its integration into the instructional process. Many of the district’s existing desktops will be relocated to the middle and elementary schools where teachers will be included in the appropriate training to encourage greater use and incorporation of technology within the lower grades. The funding includes hardware maintenance and professional development. The district is pursuing additional sources to cover the cost of technical support personnel not covered by the Golden LEAF Grant.

1:1 Laptop Project Objectives

• To positively impact teaching and learning in a rural Eastern North Carolina school district with a high percentage of low income and low performing students by incorporating 21st century computer technology into the instructional process.

• To expand learning opportunities for all high school students by providing access to the rapidly expanding availability of online, distance learning, Advanced Placement, and Virtual High School courses.

• To positively impact Edgecombe County by increasing student retention and on-time graduation rates, and by providing more highly qualified high school graduates for the 21st century work force and higher education.

• To enhance technology skills of the faculty by increasing current hardware, software, training, and connectivity, so they will be better prepared to work with 21st century students.

• To positively impact students, citizens, and the economic growth of Tier 1/low-wealth Edgecombe County by creating a computer-literate work force that is more employable and better prepared to function in 21st century businesses and industries.

In a recent New York Times article, Thomas L. Friedman could have been talking about Edgecombe County when he described the developing “education gap.”He said, “Here is the dirty little secret that no CEO wants to tell you: they are not just outsourcing to save on salary. They are doing it because they can often get better-skilled and more productive people than their American workers.”

Friedman referenced Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who described the traditional American high school education as “obsolete.” And Friedman concluded by saying, “There is no sugar-coating this: in a flat world, every individual is going to have to run a little faster if he or she wants to advance his or her standard of living. When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, ‘Tom finish your dinner – people in China are starving.’ But … I am now telling my own daughters, ‘Girls, finish your homework – people in China and India are starving for your jobs.’” (“It’s a Flat World, After All,” The NY Times, April 3, 2005)

The State Board of Education recently adopted a goal requiring public schools to produce globally competitive students. Global competitiveness includes to the ability to use technology, process information, and think critically. ECPS is committed to this task, but to be successful, must enhance its efforts in technology. There is sense of urgency and a great need to integrate technology into a teaching and learning process that prepares students to use these technologies more effectively. We must prevent Edgecombe County students from falling farther behind their peers around the world.