In order to help prepare students for the future as well as help teach them to be responsible users of technology, we instituted a laptop program in the fall of 2000. The primary purpose of the laptop program is to help facilitate our academic curriculum. Every student and teacher has a laptop that is loaded with educational software, and the entire campus has secure wireless internet. This allows us to extend the educational opportunities available to students as well as help them become technologically literate.

In their classes, students often use computers as tools to facilitate research on a topic. Students may gather information from the internet or from databases such as ProQuest or EBSCO. Students are also expected to use software programs such as Excel for making bar graphs, Inspiration for graphically organizing their notes or pre-writing for a paper, and PowerPoint for creating visual aids to accompany presentations in a variety of classes. Students also learn to create and publish web pages in classes like General Science and as they create electronic portfolios in their Skills classes. Teachers are also expected to create web pages for their own classes so that students can find assignments and the syllabus, as well as to share examples of their work or communicate through a class email list. Finally, laptops are also an important means of communication at Scattergood. Staff and students circulate announcements through staff and student listservs, and many classes have class email lists that enable students to get assignments, ask questions, and share observations about readings and discussions.