As Chatham County Schools (Pittsboro, NC) continue the third year of their laptop program, the local news station, Channel 17, checked in. The initiative started when school district administrators realized kids entering college needed to know how to use a computer to study and do research, reports Eric Watson.

Administrators say the ideal situation is for the district to provide take-home computers to all the high school and middle school students, but there is not enough money in the budget to pay for that. For now, students only use their school laptops in the class. This is the first year that middle school teachers have been able to take home their laptops.

Teachers report a change in pedagogy. “Having canned assignments doesn’t work,” said Northwood High School science teacher, Connie Root. Students like the convenience of information sources. Explains one student,

Sometimes when you read something from a book, you might not understand because there are words you don’t understand; when you use the computer there are so many websites you can go the same information. So it makes it easier because if you don’t understand in one place you can go to another place.

Source: NBC 17, Program Substitutes Computers for Books