The introduction of an information technology project: personal computing in the classroom

Scotch College is the first school in South Australia to introduce, on a large scale, notebook computers to its students. Each Year 7 and 8 student is expected to possess a notebook computer to be used as their own personal, portable computer at school and at home. The aim is to change the emphasis in our teaching methodologies to a more child-centred approach in which students can take greater control over their learning, and to ensure that they can take full advantage of the emerging global information technologies. The notebook is not intended to replace pen-and-paper, but to help create a powerful learning environment. This paper details the planning the school went through, some hurdles which had to be overcome, the training of staff, the impact on the curriculum and the setting up of an infrastructure to enable the notebooks to be efficiently used.