Mannheim Middle School eighth-grades will each be issued a Macbook Air starting in the fall of 2014.

Mannheim and District 83 have been interested in how 1:1 has been going at Leyden, sending representatives to see what teachers and students are doing with the Chromebooks and how we’re doing it.

Bryan Weinert, Leyden’s Director of Technology, said “most of the help we’ve provided them [Mannheim] is just opening our doors to them, like we do to so many other people, schools, and districts.”

From representatives visiting Leyden’s 1:1 symposiums to Mannheim’s network guys calling ours to ask about firewalls, Weinert said, “we’re always very willing to help them and share information.”

While the Mannheim middle schoolers will not have experience with Leyden’s device, the Chromebook, Weinert noted that there are still benefits, whether they use Google apps or not.

“Any type of technology experience they’re going to get is going to help when they come here. Whether it’s through getting through digital literacy a little bit quicker or better, or whether it’s using some skills that are going to be able to transfer into content specific classes, like the core classes,” Weinert said.

“If the students come in here with some background, especially with web tools and how to research, that’s going to do nothing but help them when they get here, in any of our classes.”

While the eighth graders won’t be receiving the Macbooks until next year, The 1:1 transition has already begun at Mannheim. According to the Franklin Park Herald-Journal teachers have already been issued Macbooks and are undergoing training to learn Google plans and file sharing.

The Herald-Journal went on to note that the eighth grade students won’t be allowed to take home the laptops the first year, and Mannheim plans to hold a parent meeting to discuss insurance and responsibilities.