The students carry the laptops with them at all times, even taking them home at night. This is made possible due to a program launched by Toshiba and Microsoft that offers software-loaded laptops to schools at discounted prices. So far, more than 170 schools have taken advantage of the program. A public school district in South Carolina leased laptops to 300 students in 1997. The program proved to be so popular with the parents that the district expanded it to another 700 students.
Students prepare their assignments on the computer and submit it via diskette or e-mail.
The teacher can then electronically comment on the assignments before handing them back via the same channel. Math classes can utilize spreadsheets and databases to demonstrate data collection, algorithms, graphing and plotting, and routine calculations. Laptops provide other advantages. Students can use laptops at any time of day, as opposed to spending only an hour a week in a computer lab. The portability of the laptop lends itself to group work and field research.