Launched in 2012, the 1:1 Program reflects USM’s commitment to prepare students for the 21st century. Its implementation evolved directly from USM’s mission to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the future in an equitable, student-centered, and forward-thinking learning community.
Through our 1:1 Program, all Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School students use a dedicated personal computing device throughout the school day and beyond.
- Students in kindergarten through 5th grade use school-owned iPads.
- Students in 6th through 12th grades bring their own personal devices.
To ensure students’ online safety, USM has installed firewalls to block inappropriate content along with correlating software to monitor device traffic. Students and parents must also sign acceptable use policies to ensure the tools are used in an appropriate manner.
How Does the 1:1 Program Benefit Students?
Research indicates that when students use their own personal devices, the potential to improve and extend learning exists by:
- Offering a classroom environment where collaboration and creation are paramount
- Allowing for different teaching paradigms
- Providing students opportunities to participate in lessons off campus or review lessons multiple times afterward to reinforce the material
- Empowering students with access to resources, people, and content, extending learning beyond the walls of the classroom
- Increasing opportunities for teachers to assess students informally during class
- Helping students organize their learning materials—including electronic textbooks and binders, notes, video, audio, and graphics—on one device
- Preparing students to be skilled technology users
Why a 1:1 Program?
The 1:1 Program goals support USM’s academic technology philosophy and helps to provide students with ACCESS, which is defined as:
Autonomy to
- Create
- Collaborate
- Explore
- Support all learners
- Share with the global community
ACCESS will continue to frame how technology will support learning at USM.