Techies now the norm! And, taxpayers continue to endorse technology!

Barbers Hill school district hopes to eventually provide every student with a laptop. Voters, two years ago, approved extending to the high school a program already successful in their middle school - laptops for all students. Now every student and teacher in grades 7-12 receives a laptop for school academic purposes.

One of the goals is to eliminate a need for textbooks. While the cost of a laptop may seem high initially, consider the fact that textbooks cannot be updated with new information as quickly or as frequently as information being accessed via computer. Textbooks, in fact, are sometimes obsolete by the time they are printed. How confusing it is for students to read one thing in their textbooks and find more updated material on Internet sites.

Three years ago, fifth and sixth graders at one elementary campus in the Forney ISD began an electronic textbook pilot program. It was so successful that voters have now approved funding that provides laptops for all students in grades 5-12. Educators see the use of laptops and e-books as the best means of providing students access to information via the Internet as well as ensuring the most current learning materials.

State officials have begun to engage in numerous ways to encourage technology for public education. Lawmakers in the last legislative session passed a bill that instructs the Texas Education Agency to investigate possible funding models for a virtual school network. The objective is to use the Internet so that students can participate in classroom instruction from any location. Electronic courses, some available today, allow students anywhere in the state to have access to course work which might otherwise not be offered at a particular school. A student in the Warren ISD could be taking a course via the Internet that is being taught by an instructor in the Plano ISD.

Higher education in Texas, too, has been quick to embrace technology into its curriculum and operations. Texas needs more nurses. Many parts of the state have critical nursing shortages. Angelo State University's distance learning program allows students holding associate degrees to earn credit toward an R.N. degree online. Additionally, individuals with associate degrees can also study nursing via the Internet to earn degrees while holding down another job.

Texas State University recently installed a wireless networking system on campus that allows students and instructors to experience Wi-Fi almost everywhere on campus - indoors or outdoors. Access to the Internet is available from laptops, tablet PCs or PDAs.

Security concerns have triggered more technology sales. In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech, Stephen F. Austin regents approved the purchase of an emergency alert system. The system has an outdoor audio alert and technology is programmed to immediately send messages to cell phones and student computers in case of emergencies or security threats.

Almost every city, county and governmental entity in Texas has its own Web site. It is the technology behind the Web sites that make it possible for residents to rely on instant communication and information sharing as well as transacting business in a convenient and cost-effective manner. As the world spins faster and faster, technology must work harder and harder to help governmental entities respond.