Eleven Hundred Wireless Laptop Computers will be provided to all grade 7 and 8 students, teachers and school leaders of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in a bold move to bring more technology into the classroom this September. The Board passed a motion Tuesday night to implement Phase Four of the Wireless Laptop program. All Grade 7 and 8 students will have access to the latest computer technology both at school and at home.

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education has seen first hand the significant benefits of using grade-wide one on one laptop programming to students in British Columbia and Quebec and is thrilled that the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in partnership with Apple Canada will be the first board in Ontario to champion a new innovative and successful way of delivering education to its grade 7 and 8 students.

The Board first introduced the wireless technology into the classroom in 2003-2004 by piloting the “Learning with Laptops Program” to a wide range of students from kindergarten to grade 6. In 2004-05 the Sudbury Catholic District School Board decided to expand the wireless laptop technology into all secondary schools with the new Learning With Laptops-One to One Grade 9 Math program using Apple wireless ibooks. The mathematics-based program allows students to conceptualize the abstracts of mathematics and continues to integrate technology into the classroom setting. In its continued commitment to student success, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board has developed strong expertise in the use of technology as a resource for improving student achievement. The 2005-2006 school year saw the Board expand its wireless program again by extending the availability of wireless laptops to Special Education students under a CODE grant in an additional six schools.

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n a presentation to Sudbury Catholic District School Board Trustees and Senior Administration, Robert Kennedy, Education Development Manager from Apple Canada noted that the introduction of the wireless laptop program in both the elementary and secondary schools has had a dramatic impact on student learning and student achievement. “Recent Provincial test results from the original five schools who integrated the wireless laptop program into their literacy curriculum indicate a 15 to 25 percent increase in their grade 5 and 6 writing achievement EQAO scores,” stated Kennedy. “The reason for this positive improvement can be directly attributed to the fact that students are engaged by technology which translates into fewer behavioural problems, better attendance, punctuality, and more time for individualized learning,” concluded Kennedy.

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board commends senior administration for their commitment to bringing state-of-the-art technology to students and staff of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and states that, “This initiative will improve student literacy and numeracy.”