MLive.com : West Michigan schools catch up to 'digital kids' with new technology

MLive.com : West Michigan schools catch up to 'digital kids' with new technology: "Blended learning will grow rapidly in K-12, as it has at the college level. Two area districts, Coopersville and Grandville, just added staff to increase online offerings. Kentwood has two full-time and one part-time educational technologists consulting teachers how to integrate it, Superintendent Scott Palczewski said. Districts like Caledonia and Hopkins paid for new technologies through recent bond campaigns, and buy inexpensive netbooks for about $300 each. Other districts, including Grand Rapids Public Schools, used federal stimulus funds for new technologies. Some administrators also see blended instruction as a way to cut costs long term.

Even so, technology evolves so fast that it's continual challenge for resource-strapped Michigan school districts to stay current, said Dan Takens, superintendent at Byron Center. The district's student-to-computer ratio is almost 2-to-1, but most of the technology is six years old.

Rockford Public Schools will debut six new Smart classrooms this fall -- two at each level -- with state-of-the-art hardware, software and furnishings. These 'classrooms of the future' are sponsored by Steelcase, Microsoft and Custer Furniture, who will use them to gather data on how the new bells and whistles affects student achievement."