Oswalt students' hunger for knowledge satisfied by `Mac' attack
By Richard Irwin, SGVN
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Posted: 09/16/2012 07:10:28 PM PDT
Updated: 09/17/2012 11:14:51 AM PDT
Fifth-graders at Oswalt Academy in Walnut feel like they're walking on air - MacBook Air that is. The excited students received their brand new laptops last week as part of the academy's one-to-one computer program.
"They couldn't wait to get their new computers, but it takes time to load all the programs and settings on 130 laptops," explained Principal Kevin Despard.
But families finally received the gleaming machines at the laptop learning roll out night on Sept. 12. Proud parents and their smiling children learned all about their MacBooks.
Despard noted the Rowland Unified school already uses more than 500 laptops in the fifth to eighth grades. In addition, kids in kindergarten to fourth grade use another
Joseph Fasheh, 10, works on his new MacBook Air during class at Oswalt Academy in Walnut on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. (SGVN/Staff photo by Watchara Phomicinda)
200 iPod Touches.
"We use technology in every class," he said. "And this has changed the way our teachers teach and our students learn. Hand in hand with Oswalt becoming an international baccalaureate school, the computers have pushed our projected API to 922."
Every MacBook Air comes loaded with textbooks, as well as programs such as iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, GarageBand, iDVD and ComicLife. The laptops also have built-in video cameras and text-to-voice features.
The new computers connect with the academy's WiFi so students can do research on the Internet. The school has WiFi throughout its sprawling Walnut campus.
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