"Anyone who has ever listened to the incessant tap-tap-tapping of a teenager texting on a cellphone knows that youths these days are wired. Whether by desktop, laptop, cellphone, or smart phone, many students spend their nights and weekends online and in touch."
But much of that interactivity is frozen like a bad computer program the minute they walk into school. In many schools, if a student fires up a smart phone in the middle of class to check something on the Internet, they could be in trouble.
“We say if they pull that out, they get detention,’’ said Michael Cournoyer, Holliston High School’s principal. “It’s kind of silly.’’
As of two years ago, just 1 percent of Massachusetts schools had a computer for every student - even though state guidelines call for 100 percent.
But that could change as Holliston, Natick, Hopkinton and other communities look to integrate technology more intimately into the classroom. They face hurdles, most notably the cost of starting and maintaining such programs.
It’s still early in the plan, but school leaders in Holliston hope to provide a laptop for every student and teacher at the high school, starting with the freshman class of 2012. The transition kicked off last month, when 20 of the high school’s teachers received an Apple MacBook, Superintendent Bradford Jackson said.
Hopkinton is trying out one-to-one computing this year by providing laptops to