Building students’ future with TravelMate Spin B118 – the Santa María success story

Santa María Marianists School is located in Victoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country of Spain, where it serves as an example in the education sector since 1889. The school, which belongs to Marianists School Network, has 17 centers all over Spain and in Victoria-Gasteiz alone the school serves 1.700 pupils from primary school to high school.
‘One PC one child’ policies (1×1) for laptop implementation in school centers and incorporation of digital resources aims that not only every child has a PC, but pupils have every single tool to enable the acknowledgment and adaptation in this changing world. Computers must be seen as a necessary tool that students will use to prepare themselves for their future.
Technology allows educators to be closer to their pupils and constantly analyze their progress and rhythm of work. It fosters a diversity of educational methods and pedagogical strategies. In addition, pupils themselves improve their communication and learn to collaborate by networking. They are more creative, critical, and autonomous, as they learn to take advantage of their time.
In the case of Santa María Marianists School, educators were looking for technology capable of boosting work flow as well as other skills that have little to do with technology. One of the school’s aims is to fully integrate technology into the classroom so it becomes second nature. Educators hope to move from paper-based work to computer-based in a natural process.
At the end of the 2014-15 school year, a pilot test was conducted with Aspire R11 through Xenon Computer. That same year, Santa María Marianistas School acquired several units for its 5th grade class with the aim of integrating Windows Pro in all subjects (Science, Mathematics, Euskera, Spanish, Art, English …). This project provides to each students one personal device with access to their data in a fast and agile way, under the control of their teachers.

The performance of students increased and the school decided to renew the equipment with the model Acer TravelMate Spin B118 (about 350 systems installed in the first two years of the project). These devices gave them reliability and functionality in equal parts, since they are set up with agile processors. This feature, combined with the solid-state drive of the TravelMate Spin B118 makes the equipment easy to turn on and off throughout a class. In addition, its touch screen in 360 degrees opened more possibilities for the students.
These devices were also chosen for their Windows Pro and its Microsoft Office 365 tools: opens a range of possibilities through programs such as Themes, One Note, OneNote Class or Planner, which reinvents the processes inside the school – both for teachers and administration – and yields improvement in the way of communicating, collaborating and managing information.
The choice of Acer TravelMate Spin B118 was the most suitable for older primary students. This portable computer has a battery life 13 hours, lasting more than one day of class on a single charge. In addition, it has an 11.6-inch anti-reflective screen -with HD or Full HD options-, a 360 ° hinge for versatile learning and a stylus that supports Windows Ink, which allows students to take notes, edit documents, and draw.
TravelMate Spin B118 is the best model for schools that wish to incorporate new tools and technologies into their educational practice. The enormous possibilities offered by these devices foster collaborative work among students.
Summarizing, these are the main benefits perceived from students and the teaching staff:

• Great potential to promote collaborative working
• Ease of control and security
• Improvement in student’s understanding of new material
• Possibility to perform tasks outside the classroom
• Possibility of working with different useful tools in classrooms: One Note, One Note Class or Planner

Students have access to web pages in a simpler way and share equipment among their peers without having to make advanced configurations. New uses of technology motivate students and allows for a deeper assimilation and understanding of new concepts.
“Our plan is to continue consolidating the technology as one more classroom tool, which allows for growth in our students. We seek to prepare them for a digital society; prepare them for what was previously called the future, but it is already present”, says Diego Vázquez, ICT Coordinator at Santa María Marianistas and ICT Manager at the Network of Marianist Colleges.
Here’s a video about this amazing success story!