Penn Manor School District’s open source 1:1 student laptop learning program has earned a District of Distinction award from District Administration Magazine.
Every student in grades 7 through 12 receives a laptop computer running the Linux operating system, as well as dozens of open source learning programs. With 2,500 1:1 laptops in grades 7 through 12, and 1,500 Linux laptops in its elementary schools, Penn Manor supports the largest open source learning program in Pennsylvania.
Free and open source software has saved Penn Manor more than $500,000 in technology acquisition costs over the past two years. However, our program is about much more than technology cost savings–we empower students with root access on the school issued laptops, and encourage exploration, experimentation, and tinkering. Read about our guiding principles.
Key to the program’s success is a unique student technology apprenticeship program, an honors-level, independent study course where student technologists work alongside the district IT Team on repairs, software setup and instructional tutorials. The Penn Manor Student Technology Team has been nationally recognized, and was recently featured in the Red Hat Films documentary, The Power of Open in Education.
