For Ryan and others like him, the laptop is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Students are able to use their home telephone connection to dial into the school server and access their assignments or the Internet. All the while, students are acquiring technology skills to support their progress toward information literacy. All teachers are given a laptop and training. This has been a key factor in making the program effective and successful.
Teachers consider the laptop their partner in the teaching process.
The software allows them to create standards-based lessons, to focus activities on specific curricular topics, and to use the Internet for engaging lessons. Email allows them to communicate effectively and frequently with students and parents. Shaun Lloyd, an English teacher, has remarked that she likes being able to set midnight deadlines for some projects so that students can take advantage of email to send in completed assignments. She would not be able to do this if all students didn't have a computer at home. The Freshman Foundation Program has many lofty goals, but one of its highest is to provide access to an effective, technology-based learning environment, anytime, anywhere for all ninth graders.