In the tiny rice farming community of Biggs, in northern California, teenagers are latching on to portable computing.
Using a two-pound, 12 x 9 inch tablet, called an AlphaSmart, students in the Kids.Com afterschool program download homework assignments and do projects at home. Many of their parents complete their homework for English Language Development classes on the easy-to-use computers.
Freshman Griselda Lozano says she's doing better in school "because it corrects the spelling on my essays."
After learning how to type on the AlphaSmart with a self-paced instructional program, 8th-grader Janet Luquin says, "My reports are pretty good now because they're typed and the grammar and spelling are checked."
Afterschool Learning Grant Buys Tablets
A large percentage of the 860 students in Biggs Unified School District are in the migrant education program. Many of their parents are learning English at the high school. Writing—and especially spelling—in English are challenges.
But four years ago, with a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, 26 AlphaSmart 3000 computers were purchased for the 26 migrant education students in the middle school afterschool program. Site Coordinator Robin Swanson explains, "The original purpose was for the migrant education students to take the tablets to class to take notes and then take them home to complete projects." Both students and their parents were taught how to use these simple computers.
The tablets have been extremely popular with all of the 200 students in the Kids.Com afterschool program and many of their parents, Swanson says. This year the program, operated by the Butte County Office of Education, expanded to the high school and so did the opportunity to check out the AlphaSmarts. Students not in the migrant education program also may check out tablets if they are available.
"I wish we had one for every student at the middle school," says Swanson of the $200 computers. "They've given kids access to technology, and they love it!"
Writing Made Easier
The design of the AlphaSmart encourages students to write. There's no waiting for it to boot up or for a program to open. There is no mouse to manipulate, and the small LCD display shows only four lines at a time allowing users to focus solely on the sentence they are writing. There is even word prediction software to help scaffold student's writing. Those with poor handwriting can see legible words on the display as they type, and assignments can be transferred to a computer for formatting and printing.
"It's easy to turn on, to find your work, and to save your work," said 9th-grader Flor Castillo.
Swanson says the tablets have "incredible memory capacity" noting each one can hold eight separate files—one for each class. They also are extremely sturdy. Not one has been damaged in her program and, remarkably, none have been lost or stolen.
"We don't have enough of them. All the 8th graders were begging for them when they went up to the high school, so this year we expanded the program. And the parents would like more so they could use them, too," Swanson says.
Access to Ownership
Castillo has been in the Kids.Com program for three years and checks out the AlphaSmart regularly. But this summer she bought her own computer. "I like the AlphaSmart because it's easy and it's not heavy, but it doesn't collect search information," she says. Castillo adds she got tired of staying later after school to get a chance to use the Internet on a computer in the school's lab, so she saved up to buy her own.
Swanson is pleased that by using these tablets, Biggs teenagers are finding technology is an important part of their life.
For information about Kids.Com, contact Swanson at rswanson@biggs.org. The AlphaSmart can be personally evaluated at no cost for up to two weeks. Go to www.alphasmart.com for information.
