Convertible laptops were provided to 9th-grade and 10th-grade students at Oak Ridge High School in October as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ digital initiative, which is known as Access Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Convertible laptops were provided to 9th-grade and 10th-grade students at Oak Ridge High School in October as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ digital initiative, which is known as Access Oak Ridge.

The roll-out to the two grades at ORHS was launched the week of October 17.

“Through our Access Oak Ridge digital one-to-one initiative, our vision is to empower all Oak Ridge students with equitable access to digital learning opportunities; to innovate, design, collaborate, and ultimately succeed in local and global communities of the future,” a press release said. “This initiative is geared toward increasing opportunities for creativity and out-of-the-box problem solving. In a 1:1 environment, teachers can serve as collaborative facilitators in an atmosphere of timely information gathering and authentic problem-based learning.”

The student laptops or portable devices are also in use or being rolled out in other nearby school districts, including in Anderson County and Clinton. They’ve previously been distributed to students in some other grade levels in Oak Ridge, starting with some students in the city’s two middle schools. [Read more…]