Students to scholars--byte by byte.

Freedom to Learn is a partnership with the state of Michigan, HP and high-priority school districts that provides wireless laptops to students in a 1-to-1 ratio. As a part of Michigan's education bill, FTL has been designed to improve both teaching and learning in the state. It's safe to say that everyone at Whittier Middle School in Flint, Michigan, is excited about our first schoolwide year with FTL.

Although wireless computing for all of our 650-plus students is new to us this year, we have had some past experiences with this technology concept. Beginning in February 2003, Whittier had one academic team--consisting of about 130 students and four teachers--who participated in Michigan's 1-to-1 wireless computing program. Each of the seventh-grade students in this group had a laptop computer assigned to him/her for the rest of the school year. Throughout the entire 2003-2004 school year, these students continued to use their laptops as a tool for improving learning in the core subject areas.

Once the laptops became an integral part of our teaching, my teammates and I observed positive changes in our students' behavior, attendance and attitudes. We saw less disruption and time-wasting behavior when students were engaged in technology-enhanced schoolwork. Because students and teachers had varying levels of expertise in technology, collaboration became the rule rather than the exception. Whittier's principal described these changes as "magical." The expansion of the FTL program at Whittier from one academic team to schoolwide participation this year is showing the same positive changes: students who are more focused on and engaged in their education.

Throughout the tour semesters that I have taught students with access to 1-to-1 wireless computing, my lessons have become more challenging and student centered. Students in my classroom first used the wireless laptops as word processors. Students then used the laptops to make graphic organizers for material that they read.

I forced as many of my lessons as possible into a form that students could complete on their laptops. I looked for any way that students could use the laptops and still learn the science curriculum. As our experience and confidence grew together, I designed lessons where the laptops were essential to the completion of an assignment. This same pattern exists with the other teachers from the pilot team. Keeping this trend in mind, I expect that authentic integration of wireless technology into lessons will continue to increase across the board at Whittier as we all become more experienced, collaborative and comfortable with technology as a learning tool.

Our school made a concerted effort to facilitate the technology integration learning curve for our educators. Teachers from our building were given two weeks of professional development. Core teachers were invited to attend the Intel Teach to the Future training, which provided software tutoring with unit planning time and assistance. The regular use of laptops by teachers and students to enhance learning is evidence that the professional development was successful.

In a school where all students have equal access to wireless computing, and teachers are trained in and committed to technology integration, the limits to student learning are only what can't be imagined. Teachers can tailor lessons to their students' many learning levels and abilities. Students can take a more active role in acquiring new knowledge and research topics that interest them. Students are not held back by too few or too old of textbooks. Students can learn in real time from experts in just about any field. In addition, we are looking forward to the continued use of these technology tools to help our students move closer to becoming Whittier scholars.

Teaching and Learning

Hank Becker, a professor of education at the University of California, Irvine, has significant research showing that the more technology is used in a classroom, the more student centered the instruction becomes. This is proving to be true in the Freedom to Learn program as well. According to Becker:

"Teaching/learning is] much more student centered.... Teachers are no longer the expert in the room, but rather [are] the student's partners in learning. A typical assignment is to offer students a broad, open-ended question or discovery situation which allows the students to take their learning to higher levels by exceeding expectations and learning with virtually no limits."

Wynn Draper-Bryant, a science teacher at Whittier Middle School in Flint, Michigan, notes:

"My roles as teacher and learner are changing because of Freedom to Learn.... My students and I are moving from a teacher-directed style of learning to a more student-centered style. Instead of just learning about past events, we can also learn about what's happening in today's world, and we may even have a chance to affect the future in a positive way."

Wynn Draper-Bryant is a science teacher at Whittier Middle School.