Generation Wireless – Electronic gizmos all the rage for well-equipped students

Using a global positioning system, East Middle School seventh-graders find "treasures" — in the form of a hidden trinket — after a session of geocaching.

Butte elementary students can give book reports via PowerPoint to make high-tech presentations, rather than using their neatest handwriting on traditional white, lined paper.

And Anaconda high schoolers did more than learn the meaning of imagery in J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy series last year: they made a movie using a digital camera and clay models.

While adults may be struggling with the newest technologies, students in southwest Montana seem to absorb it naturally. Meanwhile, schools are working hard to implement and pay for technology in the classroom.

"Kids are born to technology and they grow up with it," said Anaconda English teacher Charmaine Everett, who recently received her master’s degree in technology in education.

Feeling that she was going to be a "dinosaur" when it came to using technology prompted Everett to return to school to delve into this heady world.

And what she found surprised her.

By Leslie McCartney ~ of The Montana Standard

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2005/08/28/newsbutte_top/newsbutte_top.txt