Kelsey Stephenson works on an online course from her kitchen after school. Her district, the Putnam County, Tenn., schools, requires that students take at least one online course to graduate.
Jack Ursitti, 7, of Dover, Mass., has been diagnosed with autism and uses an iPad for leisure and for educational activities. "It’s a constant tool," says his mother, Judith Ursitti. "When we put an iPad in his hand, he immediately got it," she says.
Freshman Yana Failor works on her laptop at San Francisco Flex Academy, a hybrid charter high school where students are offered Web-based curriculum and face-to-face instruction.
Dominique Miller, a senior at the Science Leadership Academy, edits a multi-camera shot in Final Cut software for Rough Cut Productions, the school’s videoproduction company.
Each student in a Project K-Nect classroom, such as this one at Dixon High School in Holly Ridge, N.C., is given a smartphone. Students can use the instant-messaging, video-camera, and Internet features to explore math solutions.
Ivette Garcia, 15, center, is in an online credit-recovery course for Algebra 1 at John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles. "We have to use computers," she says. "It makes us think more."
