As you know, during the 2005-2006 school year RIS is requiring that every high school junior and senior either bring a wireless laptop from home or to lease or buy one from the school.

RIS will be the first school in Thailand to initiate a one-to-one laptop/computer program. Educational innovation inevitably brings challenges. RIS will do everything it can to make the transition to one student/one laptop as smooth as possible.

RIS intends to fully address the challenges the program will create and the concerns of parents, teachers and students. An Ad Hoc Committee of Teachers and Students made the following recommendations to help assure this program is successful:

• Teachers and the administration need to explain to stakeholders the benefits, rationale and details of this program.
• The school needs to make a strong commitment to providing professional development in the area of technology.
• The teachers also need ready access to wireless notebook computers for classroom work.
• The school needs to clearly prepare for the technical issues which the laptop program will necessitate, for example, providing spare batteries, security and access points.
• The program needs to be properly supervised and evaluated.

Even though RIS will be on the cutting edge for schools in Thailand, hundreds of schools worldwide have instituted one-to-one laptop programs for K-12 students and the World Wide Web provides many examples. The American School of Bombay instituted one student/one laptop three years ago. The school’s web address and information technology plan 2004-2007 are found at
http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/1499.htm
http://www.asbindia.org/content/IT%20Development%20Program%202004-2007%20abridged.pdf

The State of Maine instituted laptops for all middle school students in the entire state. That program and others is featured in a research article from the Western Australia Department of Education: http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/notebooks/

In April, 2005, the Cobb County School District (Greater Atlanta) in Georgia, USA voted to issue laptops to all teachers and students: over 60,000 machines. The background behind that decision is found at
http://www.cobbk12.org/powertolearn/main_index.htm

This trend of one student/one laptop with wireless networking is found in college campuses around the world and increasingly in schools K-12. It shifts the paradigm of teaching from teacher down to student up.

In general, laptops in the hands of every RIS junior and senior will allow students to:

• Access the world wide web from any wireless access point anywhere, at RIS, at airports and even at some restaurants in Bangkok • Use CD, DVD or network-based media, including CD-based textbooks • Obtain their text and classroom materials over the network or by media • Easily carry their work to and from home • Use the same software at home and at school • Readily share sources, resources and projects with other students • Use technology anywhere they can bring along their laptop • Better prepare for college by getting even more familiar with hardware, software and networking • Give students a head start into college laptop computing and a range of computer software • Make use of hardware and software among RIS students more widespread and equitable • Streamline web, networked and software-based assignments • Pilot an exciting new change in student learning