TRAVERSE CITY -- The library at Traverse City West Senior High could have been distracting, with its clicking computer keys and peripheral chatter.
Paige Keith tuned it out, an earbud headphone nestled in her left ear. She scrolled through a list of questions about "Gulliver's Travels" on her laptop screen.
This was her English classroom.
Paige, 16, is among hundreds of high school students in Traverse City Area Public Schools enrolled in online courses.
Administrators are exploring ways to provide greater technology access to students, a group becoming increasingly gadget-savvy. More than $16.2 million in upgrades are sought through 2015, to be paid for with district bond funds.
The tech boost also will allow administrators to collect data in a centralized location and train instructors to teach in a virtual world, said Todd Neibauer, TCAPS' technology director.
"I really feel a sea change is coming in education," he said. "We have a changing type of student body."
Beginning next month, Neibauer said, all students will be given access to a free e-mail account and Google document storage space, where they will be able to work on the same project at school and at home.
And, soon, the hope is to have a mini-laptop in the hands of every secondary student, possibly starting this fall with the alternative program at Traverse City High School. The project in total would cost nearly $3.3 million when completed.
"If it was as easy as buying computers, it's something we could have done already," Neibauer said. "Right now, our bond funds are not infinite."
Principal Lance Morgan said the school has begun to look at the logistics of such a transition, but officials are moving slowly while financing and curriculum details build.
He said some of his students can't access computers outside of school.
"This would open a lot of doors," Morgan said. "That's the way learning's going to be."
Paige, a West junior, said that idea, like virtual courses, will prepare students for college, where nearly all have their own computers.
Assistant principals at West and Central High School said about 150 and 35 students, respectively, are enrolled this year in some type of online course.
"I can do this whenever -- at home, at weekends," Paige said. "It helps me do things on my own."
But she and classmate Nichole King, 16, cautioned against moving completely online: They don't want to lose face-to-face contact with teachers and friends.
"When I have questions, I'll e-mail my teacher and sometimes it takes a few days to write back," Nichole said. "People lose the social interaction that you have."
