The Children's Storefront
The goal of The Storefront Tech & Laptop Initiative is to empower students in the older grades with
the tools necessary and important for getting jobs, gaining skills and getting into college. In the lower
grades, the goal is to provide the teachers with an easier, more convenient and more flexible way
of achieving technology integration whenever the moment seems right.
In the eyes of many educators, the word laptop evokes "empowerment" in a unique way.
There is a worldwide program started by Negroponte at MIT called OLPC:
One Laptop Per Child) to create cheap laptops for people
around the world with limited technological access. Seymour Papert used the phrases in the 80's
"body-syntonic and ego-syntonic" to describe the underlying principles of children and computers. These
principles still apply in the context of laptops for children. When I visited The Children's Storefront
School and carried a laptop last month, one student actually asked me "what is that thing" and had clearly not previously seen a laptop. The essence of this Tech & Laptop Initiative is
to begin our school down this pathway of the next 5-10 years, dealing of course with security and safety issues which are paramount.
Steve Bergen 5/1/07
To quote Annette Liberson (with permission of course)
Director of
New York Interschool Association
378 West End Avenue, #706
New York, New York 10024
"I was also interested in your thoughts about the relative importance of
technology and math with respect to the children at the Storefront, or
in other schools that serve inner city children. I was actually
thinking, just the other day, that technology might be a way in for
children who feel powerless and neglected to succeed. I guess I was reading about
the drop-out rate for middle school boys of color. I don't think the
schools that focus on math rather than technology do so only because
it's more important, but also because they can't afford the most up to
date technology, the kind our Interschool kids can access, and take for
granted. Perhaps if these children could have a sense that they had what
others have might be a highly motivating factor, and make them feel a
part of the larger world they live in. And, just as our kids take to
technology so easily, so might these students given the chance. They
are, after all, growing up in the same culture. Plus, as you know better
than most, technology is a tool and one can learn math or whatever using
it.
I don't think it can be either or. These kids need to feel that they are
members of the achieving mainstream to want to learn, and if success can
come from using technology to learn what they need to know, that'll be
great."
Here are the specifics of the The Storefront Tech & Laptop Initiative
Steve Bergen & Bruno Navasky 5/1/07
Goals
Create a "pioneering" spirit with several pilot classrooms that have flexible access to computers
within the room
Upgrade hardware, providing faculty with the laptop option
Create a program that empowers the 8th graders, increasing access for them and giving them
privileges within the context of leadership and responsibility
Start the Children's Storefront School on the pathway for 129th Street to be part of the
Harlem Wireless Initiative at http://www.wirelessharlem.org/
Plan A: approved
- We pick 3 classrooms to become "pioneer rooms" ... each classroom gets
a mounted smartboard, mounted projector and 3 laptops ("good things come in threes")
- We offer 10 classroom teachers the option of switching from a desktop to a personal laptop
- 17 go to the students in Class 8, the oldest students (17)
- Total is 9 + 17 + 10 (approx) = 36 laptops for approximately 36 x $1,300 = $46,800
- Cost of each smartboard + projector mounted is $10,000 ... 3 x $10,000 = $30,000
- We purchase 6 Wireless access points (2 per building) ... total of 6 x 250 = $1,500
- We purchase 1 cart per building ... total of 3 x $1300 per cart = $3,900
- We replace 15 of the old desktops with a standard model ... total of 15 x $1000 = $15,000
- Total of above numbers = $97,200
- We create a special August program for the 8th graders
that involves "computer licenses" and "community responsibilty" ... these 8th graders will have a helping
relationship and leadership component for the 07-08 school year
Overview of the "Slifka Fund" Summer 07 to Summer 08
Second Draft 6/11
- We purchased 36 Mac laptops that were used to infuse the faculty and students at all levels ... $51,000 which includes laptop cart and software ... I have exact number of $50,892.28 ... 51K
- We addressed at "level one" some horribly outdated server infrastructure and backup systems ... $2158 (Troi) and $7,761.30 (Promenet) ... this provided us with a new HP server with an Acronis backup solution for firewire drives that leave the school 10K
- We purchased memory sticks for portable storage of files by students and faculty from school to home ... $1,615.00 (Sept) + $880 (April) ...... 2.5K
- We purchased 50 security cables from Kensington ... $1,500K
- We purchased digital still cameras and digital video cameras to facilitate projects ... $1,029.13 + $789.13
$2KK
- We purchased two classroom sets of AlphaSmarts for $10,000 which are durable, writing laptops. They do not get on the Web or do e-mail, but they allow third and fourth graders to write and save. They work on several replaceable batteries and the students writing is stored in RAM. From these AlphaSmarts, you can print or send the file wirelessly to a traditional computer. The exact number of AlphaSmarts is 40 and we also purchased 3 transmitters ... I have exact number of 9850.14 ... $10K
- We purchased 20 projectors for $10,000 so that each and every classroom -- including the common room -- can be used in projection mode. This dovetailed with the generosity of another vendor -- Rob Sugarman from www.tequipment.com -- who mounted our prjectors and donated SmartBoards for each of our 13 classrooms ... $10K
- We purchased 20 HP printers for $10,000 which are "green" in that they do duplex printing (both sides of a page) and very efficient in terms of toner ... exact nmber is 7296 + 4 * 456 ... $10K
- We purchased a new e-mail and file-sharing software package that also functions now as our school "intranet" and allows students to make Web pages ... this is more than e-mail since it includes conferences ... we purchased licenses for all faculty and students in grades 5-8 ... $3K
- Totals of above: laptops 51K + server 10K + memory sticks 2.5K + security cables 1.5K + cameras 2K + Alphasmarts 10K + projectors 10K + printers 10K + First Class 3K = 100K
Laptop Numbers ... 17 Pioneers ... Amanda Sen uses 2 every Fri and Mon ... rest stay in the lap in a cart
- lab
- lab
- lab
- lab
- lab
- Kathy has black laptop #6
- lab
- lab
- Amanda has laptop #9
- Rubin has laptop #10
- lab
- Victor has laptop #12 (needs work from Q'Jette and PS removed)
- Joel has laptop # 13 (needs work from Q'Jette and PS removed)
- lab
- Monica has laptop #15 (needs work from Q'Jette and PS removed)
- Judy has laptop #16 with no bag and yes a combo lock
- Q'Jette ... has laptop #17
- Ryan had laptop #18 but now back in lab ... keyboard issue perhaps
- Alexis has laptop #19
- Stephanie has laptop #20
- Monique has laptop #21
- Ryan now has #22 (not 18) as of 1/25/08 ... 2 GIG
- Maria has laptop #23
- Adjowah has laptop #24
- Krystal had laptop #25 but now Kathy has it ... what does Krystal have?
- Katie has laptop #26
- Leopard 27
- Leopard 28
- Leopard 29
- Leopard 30
- Leopard 31
- Leopard 32
- Leopard 33
- Leopard 34
- Leopard 35
- Leopard 36