Diane Gasper-O-Brien of the Hays Daily News reports that district administrators decided on the one-to-one laptop initiative in “the final one in a five-year district technology plan that began with a Kansas Department of Education grant for grades four through six in the 2003-04 school year.”

The district has gradually been integrating laptops into the curriculum. High school students use the laptops in and out of school. Elementary schools will use laptop carts. “When we first started talking about this four years ago, we felt it was important to go slow," explains Bob Young, district technology director and director of curriculum and technology ."We've taken several trips to other districts to find out where the flaws are.”

The laptops the Ellis High students will be using are Windows-based Acer computers. District staff members participated last year in the Intel Teach To The Future training, a program that teaches the integration of technology into the classroom. Young and the superintendent explained to parents that “this will be an evolving, learning experience -- for everyone involved.”

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