RCDSB students receive free Chromebook laptops

Thousands of students in the Renfrew County District School Board have received a free laptop for schoolwork.
It's an initiative from the school board to provide equal learning opportunities and access to technology for all students in grades 7 to 12.
"You always need to start where the kids are," said Renfrew Collegiate Institute vice-principal Greg Harkness.
"If the kids are using computers in other aspects of their lives, using it in an educational setting just makes a lot of sense."
In total, 4,200 Chromebook laptops were passed out to students who opted into the program. The cost to the school board for the equipment was $940,000.
"If they're doing research, some students in the past would use their phones for research," said Harkness. "Now they've got a nice Chromebook to be able to do it on."
Grade 12 student Brandon Devries has a desktop computer at home, but he didn't have a personal laptop available to him to bring to school before this year.
He says much of his learning takes place online now, while simultaneously being in the classroom.
"It's very online-oriented with most of the material, because we all just use Google," Devries explains.
"Google Classroom, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs. Our classwork would be posted on Google Classroom."
French teacher Kathleen Mottershead has been teaching in Renfrew for the last 25 years and she welcomes the addition of technology to her classroom.
"We use a lot of current affairs, we use authentic texts, and online listening activities," she says. "So each of our students now has equal access and that wasn't necessarily the case before."
Currently, Devries is using his Chromebook to prepare for a presentation in his foods class.
"I can easily go on Google Drawings and I can make my infographic while also writing my scripts," the Grade 12 says while using the stylus that comes with the laptop.
Harkness says wifi at school is filtered to prevent students from visiting undesirable websites or abusing the capabilities of the devices.
Students are also able to take their computers home on evenings, weekends, holidays, and summer break. Each student will keep hold of their personally issued laptop until they graduate.
"I think it's awesome," says Devries. "Equal opportunity for everybody."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

House Speaker Anthony Rota apologizes after inviting man who fought for Nazis to Parliament
Several Jewish advocacy organizations condemned members of Parliament on Sunday for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
Writers Guild and Hollywood studios reach tentative deal to end strike. No deal yet for actors
Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months, though no deal is yet in the works for striking actors.
Toronto woman hospitalized overseas with botulism
A Toronto woman has been hospitalized in France with a severe case of botulism after eating improperly preserved sardines at a Bordeaux wine bar.
Russia strikes Odessa, damaging port, grain infrastructure and abandoned hotel
A Russian drone and missile strike near Odessa damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and an abandoned hotel and injured one person, as attacks on Ukraine killed four civilians and wounded 13 in the past day, Ukrainian officials said Monday.
Four in 10 child patients face unsafe spinal surgery wait times in Canada: report
Four out of ten child patients in Canada are facing unsafe spinal surgery wait times, which could cost the health-care system $44.6 million, according to a new report that was published Monday.
Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as Turkish president is set to visit Azerbaijan
Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to visit Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally.
Taylor Swift turns out to see Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs play Chicago Bears
Travis Kelce put the ball in Taylor Swift's court, and she wound up bringing it to Arrowhead Stadium after all. Call it what you want. It's out of the woods now.
Man hospitalized in life-threatening condition after incident at Calgary pub holding eating contest
Calgary paramedics took a man to hospital in life-threatening condition on Saturday after an incident at the Ship and Anchor pub.
These are the 5 headlines you should read this morning
Controversy ensues after a Nazi veteran was applauded in Parliament, Canadian autoworkers reach a deal with Ford, and a group of sentors say Canada's international student program faces "integrity challenges."