Henrico retools its laptop program.

In a move that illustrates that bold experiments do not always run smoothly, the Henrico County (VA) Public Schools announced plans to modify student laptops to improve security and better focus usage on curriculum-related applications.

In May 2001, the Henrico County Schools signed

on for what was, at the time, the largest laptop computer purchase ever. The four-year $18.6 million contract called for Henrico County schools to lease 23,000 iBooks from Apple Computer. In fall 2001, every one of the county's 10,8000 high school students received a laptop computer. Plans call for 7,700 computers to be distributed to seventh and eighth-graders in 2002 and 3,100 computers to sixth-graders in 2003.

Henrico School Superintendent Dr. Mark Edwards says that he believes it will take two to three years to realize the full potential of the one-to-one computing program. Many early problems, such as students' ability to store data, spotty Internet and network connections, mechanical breakdowns and crashing hard drives have largely been resolved. Repair turnaround has been reduced to 72 hours. Infrastructure has been improved and each of the seven high schools now has its own server to handle network traffic. Recently, however, concerns have risen about students downloading pornography and sharing files.

By the end of February, all 11,000 of the laptop computers in use will be upgraded and security features installed. The ability to download games and music will be heavily restricted; only district technology personnel will be able to load new games or software; file sharing functions will be unavailable, except to turn in assignments to teachers' computers; and instant messaging will be limited to home use. Three separate environments -home, school and testing- will be created and students will be required to log on to the appropriate environment every time they turn on their computers.

According to Edwards, the goal is to create a more structured system for school use, with the focus now strictly on education. "I think it's going to enhance computer use, because it's going to provide more control," he says. At the same time, Edwards remains committed to the open learning environment the laptops enable.