District Allows Tech Products in the Classroom

Thanks to an EXCEL grant that allowed the Commack Union Free School District to create Wi-Fi networks at their schools last year, students' use of e-Readers and netbooks in the classroom has increased, said David Weiss, assistant superintendent for secondary education.

Students are given a password for the network and allowed to use it on school grounds. 

Several Amazon Kindle e-Readers were purchased last year by the grant and are available in the school library. Students also have access to e-Books, which can be downloaded for free from the school's network, Weiss said. 

Last year the district worked with the Smithtown and Huntington libraries to sign children up for library cards and also to minimize the amount of times tax payers paid for particular digital resources – for example, if the Suffolk County Library system had access to a particular database, the school discontinued their license, Weiss said. 

Students are also able to access certain textbooks – including Pearson's Math textbook – via the school website. Weiss said students are also given CD discs when the textbook companies supply them.