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

PM Trudeau apologizes for Parliament's recognition of Nazi veteran during Zelenskyy visit
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered 'unreserved apologies' Wednesday for Parliament's recognition of a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War and said the Canadian government has reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the wake of the incident.
Judge Chutkan denies Trump's request to recuse herself in federal election subversion case
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Wednesday she won't recuse herself from Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case in Washington, rejecting the former president's claims that her past comments raise doubts about whether she can be fair.
IED believed to be on vehicle in Barrie, Ont. parking lot explodes, sparking evacuations and road closures
Police have locked down and evacuated a section of Barrie, Ont., Wednesday morning in the city's west end amid unconfirmed reports of an explosion.
Researchers say action could have prevented thousands of premature cancer deaths in women in 2020
Prevention could have prevented nearly seven in 10 premature cancer deaths among women worldwide in 2020, new research has found.
Over 50 arrested after mobs ransacked Philadelphia stores. Dozens of liquor outlets are shut down
Dozens of people faced criminal charges Wednesday after a night of social media-fueled mayhem in which groups of thieves, apparently working together, smashed their way into stores in several areas of Philadelphia, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, authorities said.
'ET Canada' cancelled by Corus Entertainment, blames 'challenging' advertising market
The studio lights are going dark at 'ET Canada.' Corus Entertainment says it has decided to cease production on the long-running Canadian arts and entertainment news magazine after 18 seasons.
Police agencies deny jurisdictional fight delayed Hardeep Nijjar murder investigation
Law enforcement agencies have denied allegations that a dispute over jurisdiction delayed the investigation into the murder of Surrey, B.C., Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Hajdu says 'co-developed' First Nations water legislation to be tabled this fall
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she hopes to table a piece of legislation this fall that she says is the closest the federal government has come to co-developing law with First Nations.
Password sharing will no longer be an option for Disney+ users. Here's when
Streaming platform Disney+ is updating its subscriber agreement and is adding a no-sharing-passwords policy.