Political leaders, educators, prominent business people will meet at Saltus this month to learn more about the school's innovative approach of "Learning Through Laptops''.

Premier Pamela Gordon, Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith, Education Minister Tim Smith, and principals of Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy will be among those attending the laptop forum on October 26.

Saltus principal Trevor Rowell came up with the idea for the forum after he learned of the keen interest in Saltus' programme.

Some 180 students in two of Saltus' year levels are already using laptops and the rest of the student body will acquire them over the next two years, bringing the total number of laptops in the school to 600.

The introduction of the laptop programme this year for Junior Seven and Senior 2 classes followed a year-long staff training process which saw the school's senior department rewrite its entire academic curriculum to accommodate the laptop innovation.

"We aimed for about 30 percent of laptops during class time to augment traditional teaching methods,'' Mr. Rowell explained. "But other schools may rightly adopt their own criteria.

"We studied examples from Australian and American schools using laptops, and tailored our programme for our particular needs. Other Bermudian schools will be free to study our programme and do the same.'' Mr. Rowell said he contacted Berkeley principal Michelle Gabisi and CedarBridge head Ernest Payette after he read that they were considering laptops for their classrooms.

"They were both enthusiastic about the idea of a forum and that encouraged me to proceed,'' he explained. "I am truly pleased to be able to share what we at Saltus have learned so far, and I hope it may help other Bermudian schools as they plan their own programmes -- and to possibly avoid any mistakes we feel we may have made during our own planning, training and implementation stages.'' One of the challenges Saltus faced was the connection of hundreds of users onto the SchoolNet. "We solved the problem at Saltus through a brand new wireless technology and were the first place in Bermuda to install it,'' Mr.

Rowell said. "Our corporate guests, as well as our colleagues from schools, will certainly want to have a look at the RadioLan system, as this exciting technology has applications way beyond education and is undoubtedly the next generation of networking.'' Mr. Rowell also pointed out that Saltus had to make the programme affordable for parents, some of whom have more than one child at the school.

"We had to provide an instalment purchase option and to increase our financial aid budget,'' he said, "and I am proud to say that parents are very positive in their support despite the additional monetary burden.'' The forum will consist of a presentation by Mr. Rowell and by Janice Gordon, a new Junior School teacher who has two years' experience teaching laptops at her former school in Harlem, New York.

Following the two talks there will be a question-and-answer period for which Saltus "Old Boy'' and Logic Communications head Peter Durhager, and the school's Director of Studies, Chris Webster, will join the panel.

In addition to seeing firsthand how the laptops are used in the classroom, forum guests will have a chance to evaluate various aspects of the programme, including academic content, teacher acceptance and training, school and student security, the cost borne both by parents and the school, and the physical preparations needed to accommodate laptops throughout the school.