DAPHNE – The Digital Renaissance of Baldwin Schools put computers in the hands of high school students. But with technology comes responsibility.

“The students can use the computers in the classroom, but one of the things we are trying to teach them is digital responsibility,” said Terry Wilhite, who oversees the program district-wide.

In addition to only using the computers in class at certain times, Daphne High School has imposed a 5 GB limit on personal files and applications on the school-issued Mac Books.

“It’s a decision we made locally,” said Daphne principal Meredith Foster. “To be effective, laptops should be dedicated to the learning process and used as a tool to enhance instruction.

“Students were taking up valuable memory space importing games, movies and excessive amounts of music onto their laptops.”

The Mac Books only have 60 GB hard drives, and the necessary school software takes up about 15 GB. To make sure the students comply with the new limit, the administration and Help Desk will conduct spot checks. Foster noted that the spot checks may be conducted during class or remotely using Apple Remote Desktop. The program allows administrators to access the computers without physically taking possession of the computer.

“Five gigabytes is actually a lot,” said DHS senior Michael Davis, who works at the school’s Apple Help Desk. “That works out to about 1,200 songs or 90 hours of music.

“You only need music for iMovie or a presentation. You have to remember that the computer is for school, not for personal use. Most folks have phones or iPods to store music anyway.”

In addition to limiting personal storage space, DHS is making sure programs not preloaded on the computers -- including Spotify, Skype, Google Chrome and Firefox – are deleted.

“When you download a (browser) program, it can take over when trying to access the internet and give you an ‘access denied’ message,” said Davis.

The Mac Books are preloaded with the necessary passwords to access the school’s internet system.

As the semester has progressed, DHS has had to deal with communication programs. Facetime created problems early, allowing direct, live communication between students in different classrooms.

“We quickly realized there were times in class when all the laptop lids had to be closed,” said Foster. “Besides Facetime, even something like getting an email can be distracting.”

While paring down the list of acceptable programs, the school left Skype available. And Davis, for one, was glad.

“Skype has been very beneficial for me,” said Davis. “I have always had problems with math.

“I found someone my age. We get together after school on Skype and they have been able to explain it to me in a way I can understand and I’m doing a lot better in math.”

School official are quick to talk about the successes for the program that puts computers in the hands of students. For Davis, the benefits are obvious.

“Communication with teachers is definitely better,” said Davis. “I can check my grades at home. If I see something is wrong or missing, I can email them and normally get a response right away.

“Plus, since I have the computer at home, I don’t have to go to the library to type. And I can do research at home.”