The Fairfax County Public Schools 1-to-1 laptop program through FCPSOn is coming to Marshall beginning in the 2019 school year. The program will provide an individual laptop for each student.
FCPS is on a mission to enhance technological presence in the classroom, in order to improve the learning environment and promote productivity. Even though this program will be new to Marshall, there are already schools scattered throughout the county where FCPSOn has been around since the 2016. These schools are called “Phase 1” schools, which include six elementary schools and nine high schools, five of which the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) e-Learning Backpack Grant financially supports.
“That would enable students to be more independent and also responsible,” junior Arijana Reskusic said. “They also have the opportunity to work on assignment outside of school if they don’t have access technology at home.”
The goal is to ensure each student has access to technology, so everyone can use programs like Blackboard, SIS, Google Classroom. In addition, the administration will allow students to take home their devices and encourage use of the laptops for educational reasons in the classroom. Students who already have a device in their possession are welcome to use their own.
“I think it’s great,” social studies teacher David Hale said. “How do you prepare students for a world with technology without active technology going on? It’s a great step in the right direction.”