Last year's freshmen at Raymond High School will continue with their laptops, and incoming freshmen will receive new Macintosh laptops as the district's program expands into its second year.

As an example of the impact of the laptops on student learning, English teacher JoDean Jordan showed off both written and multimedia work. Jordan explained that students were much more willing to edit their work repeatedly until it was "just right", rather than throwing something together and pronouncing it "good enough".

Students also used their computers to edit movies they created in order to demonstrate their interpretation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The students were required to be playwrights, actors and video editors to complete the project.

A survey administered in the spring of 2008 showed that the laptops had quickly become essential tools rather than simply "nice to have." For example:

• Eighty percent of the students have internet access at home, while 90% have email.
• Eighty-three percent said that they have a MySpace or FaceBook account.
• Ninety-three percent of students said that during the school year they experienced "some" or "considerable" growth in their ability to research.
• 97% said the same about their ability to make presentations in front of people.
• Eighty-seven percent said there was "some"or "considerable" growth in their ability to take responsibility for finding answers to problems or questions.

Source : Puget Sound info Net, Raymond Laptops, Round Two