North Hills goes high-tech

Sarah Campbell / Salisbury Post Sixteen-year-old Chase Taylor, a rising junior at North Hills Christian School, uses an Hewlett-Packard Touchstart PC tablet at the school Tuesday.

By Sarah Campbell

campbell@salisburypost.com

North Hills Christian School is going high-tech.

This fall, students will say goodbye to traditional pen and paper and hello to Hewlett-Packard TouchSmart tablet PCs.

Josh Houghton, director of technical services, said every high school student will be issued their own tablet PC. The primary difference between the tablet PC and a regular PC is the capability to actually write on the screen rather than type.

“We want to really enhance instruction,” he said. “It’s really to prepare our students for the workforce and college because as time goes on there is technology everywhere.”

The school already has at least one computer in every classroom, but with each student having a PC, teachers will be able to instruct in a whole new way.

Houghton said teachers can use tools from learning.com to create assignments that students will be able to access from their computer. They will have an opportunity to complete the assignment and make notes that will be saved for future use.

The computers will also be equipped with a Microsoft Office 2010 component that will allow students to take and store notes by subject.

“Students will be able to write or type their notes and find them easily by searching for keywords,” Houghton said. “And the whole time they are taking notes the system is constantly saving, so they don’t have to go through the trouble of saving manually.”

Sixteen-year-old Chase Taylor, a rising junior at North Hills, said he is looking forward to the convenience the tablet PCs will offer.

“It will be nice to be able to type notes instead of write them” he said.

Chase’s brother, Cameron

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4, a rising freshman, said he’ll be happy to minimize the number of supplies he has to carry around.

“It will be a lot easier than carrying a bunch of books around,” he said.

Houghton said the school is taking even more steps to become more tech savvy. Last school year, teachers and students began experimenting with Skype and launched RenWeb.

Skype is a free web-based video conferencing service that allows people to connect viawebcam. Houghton said through the service the school will be able to collaborate with classrooms in other states and countries to learn about different cultures from their peers.

“It’s just a really, really exciting way to learn about a completely different way of life,” he said.

RenWeb, web-based school management software, has been in use at North Hills since last fall. The program allows students and parents to access homework assignments, grades and upcoming events from home.

“It really brings parents into the equation,” Houghton said.

Angie Richard, director of advancement and admissions, said RenWeb has been a hit among parents and students alike and the school expects the new tablet PCs to be just as successful.

“I had one stude

nt approach me and say he couldn’t wait for the new school year to start because of the tablet PCs,” she said.

During the second semester of the year, the school plans to roll out the classroom management program DyKnow.

“That’s kind of the keystone to the program that we’re looking forward to,” Houghton said.

Houghton said the main goal for going high-tech is to make learning a more appealing experience for students.

“We want to take the idea that it’s work and a part of life out,” he said. “We’re hoping that everything is so engaging that the students kind of forget it’s sc

hoolwork.”