FUSD Loans New Laptops to American High Teachers
Shruthi Kumar
Staff Writer
As of this year, American High School teachers have recently been loaned new laptops by the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) to use throughout the duration of their tenure on campus.
Dell-branded laptops sporting an FUSD sticker were procured for all of the teachers, including ROP classes on campus as of early January, after Christmas break.
“These are relatively nice laptops,” librarian Mrs. DiFranco said. “Mrs. Do also received one, and it is incredibly useful to get things done in [the library]. The School District figured we needed these laptops to become more technologically savvy, and it seems like its doing a pretty good job so far!”
FUSD arranged for the laptops to be administered properly a little into the 2013-2014 school year; as a newly implemented idea in anticipation of the growing role technology is playing in many aspects of American High curriculum.
“Students utilize computers in my class every day without fail,” teacher Mr. Holcomb said. “This laptop definitely helps keep me organized and up to date with assignments. If any one of my students have trouble with a project that involves some new software, then I usually have no problem with helping them because I can always play around on my [new] laptop.”
Teachers can use their new laptops to keep pace with new, technologically stimulating assignments and help students solve problems of their own.
Some teachers suspect that these laptops were also issued recently to them because of the impending switch from the California State Standardized Test and Report (STAR), to the Common Core Testing curriculum.
“The Common Core, when it gets here and is implemented, is going to be completely online,” librarian Mrs. Do said. “Who knows? Maybe the new laptops have something to do with that, since teachers need to understand how the online process works.”
Furthermore, the laptops not only aid in smoothing the transition from STAR to Common Core, but also will be playing a role in Common Core training for the the teachers.
“Yes, the [Common Core] training is coming soon, it is in store, and the teachers can expect it,” counselor Ms. Ronkainen said.
