Initiative to put 40,000 laptops and tablets in schools...in Montgomery County

Montgomery County unveils initiative to put 40,000 laptops and tablets in schools
By Donna St. George
Washington Post
July 10

Montgomery County plans to launch a major technology initiative in its public schools in August, providing 40,000 laptops and tablets to students as part of a project that will expand quickly in coming years, officials said Thursday.

The school system at first will provide Chromebook laptops to students in grades three, five and six, and to high school social studies classes. By 2017-2018, Montgomery plans to have 100,000 devices, including Android-based tablets for younger students in kindergarten through second grade.

The effort is a move to bring technology into learning and teaching and to fuel digital collaboration and creativity, by the use of devices that the school system provides and those that students would be allowed to bring from home for instructional purposes.
Montgomery, with an enrollment of 151,000, is Maryland’s largest and fastest-growing school system. The project is not a one-to-one initiative — programs that assign a device to each student — but a combined approach that officials see as more affordable and sustainable.

Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said the effort reflects the state of education in the 21st century and takes advantage of a range of opportunities for enriched instruction that digital devices provide.

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