College Prep School Completes First Year Without Paper Textbooks

Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, TN has wrapped up the first year of its laptop-only learning initiative, which enabled the freshman class to use electronic textbooks instead of paper ones.

The school uses Dell Latitude XT3 Tablet PCs as its primary learning device. In addition to the paperless textbook initiative, the tablet PCs also support the school's new comprehensive science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum.

"Our goal is to make science, technology, engineering and math courses more accessible and approachable for our students," said Chris Fay, principal of Christian Brothers High School, in a prepared statement.

The Dell Latitude XT3 Tablet PCs offer a spill-resistant keyboard and a large multi-touch screen. The screen rotates to convert the device from a laptop to a tablet, and each corner has magnesium alloy reinforcements so it's strong enough to stand up to day-to-day transport.

“We looked at dozens of devices from tablets to laptops, as well as various companies such as Apple to Kindle to Dell, and chose Dell for a number of reasons,” said Joe Hillenbrand, network administrator for Christian Brothers High School, in a prepared statement. “The XT3 was the stand-out choice because it looked like it was built for anything we wanted to do regarding personalized learning. An additional value, too, was that the Windows 7 OS was compatible with our existing infrastructure and we were able to set up and manage the XT3s quickly and efficiently.”

The school also worked with Dell to implement a new wireless networking environment, and the company will help the school add storage and backup units this year.

Next year the school will expand its laptop only learning initiative to include both the freshman and sophomore classes, and in phase three it will expand the program to the rest of the school.

Christian Brothers High School is an independent, Catholic college-prep school serving approximately 840 boys in grades nine through 12.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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