The Associated Press
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming has received high marks for hooking students to the Internet.
On average, there are 3.8 students for every Internet-connected computer in Wyoming, compared to the national average of 6.8, according to a report in Education Week magazine.
Only South Dakota, at 3.4, ranks higher.
Wyoming also ranks second in percentage of schools with Internet access, 98 percent, behind Delaware's 99 percent.
"States are catching up with us, from the standpoint of all their classes being connected, all their buildings being connected," said Linda Carter, data and technology unit director for the Wyoming Department of Education.
"But we have been connected for about three years, so that kind of moves us into a different realm."
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The state's focus has shifted from ensuring all the schools' computers are connected to the Internet, and to one another, to improving technology in each classroom.
Wyoming is one of five states that offers incentives for teachers to use computer technology, according to the report. It also requires technology training and course work for teachers.
The report said the state's high schools are interlinked through a high-speed connection which can handle two-way video signals and offers quicker access to the World Wide Web.
Elementary and middle schools are also on the Wyoming Equality Network, but most of them are using slower connections.
A plan to install faster connections in the lower grades was undercut by the Legislature, which dropped the necessary funding for the upcoming biennium, the article said.
As a result, the flat funding provided by the $11.2 million budget for educational technology will simply maintain the network and an online professional development program, Carter said.
The magazine also said Wyoming has made more progress arranging for content to distribute over the network. Plus, the state has hired EdGate Inc., of Gig Harbor, Wash., to maintain a Web site that provides teachers with lesson plans, online courses and other resources.
In addition, more than 600 teachers and 100 administrators have gone through 20 days of state-financed training in using technology to develop standards-based classrooms.
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