SANBORN—The next step in a three-year plan to advance technology in the Niagara Wheatfield Central School District is to put netbook portable computers into the hands of all fifth-graders.

Mary Ann Buch, director of instructional technology, told the School Board on Wednesday that her committee’s proposal would allow each of the 275 students to be assigned a netbook to use for instructional purposes at school and at home in the 2010-11 school year.

The netbooks, which someday could be given to all students, are the next logical stage of the technology plan that is bringing wireless networks into each district building by the end of the school year, she noted. The high school and media center are activated, and access points have been installed in Edward Town Middle School and Errick Road Elementary School.

By taking the computers home, students would be able to remain in touch with their learning program 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through a “virtual private cloud” that would link servers at the schools. Using the computers for other purposes would not be possible, she said, and access into the network by people other than students and teachers would be blocked.

“We don’t want the end of the school day to be the end of students interacting,” she said.

Students and parents would sign agreements to establish ownership and responsibility, she said. Through their involvement, parents would also be provided an opportunity to learn.

Under the virtual cloud, the technology staff would not have to install software because the personal units would get information through access points. This would save the staff time because there are only two technicians in the district for 2,500 devices, Buch noted.

A cost analysis will be provided at the next meeting, but Buch later said the committee is looking at several different makes of netbooks that range from $198 to $400 each. To buy laptops for each teacher to keep in class would cost nearly three times as much, she said.

If purchased through the Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services contract as planned, aid would reimburse about 68 percent of the total cost, she said.