As for the students, Fenter said, they are “more positive, more independent, more organized and more engaged” than they were in their old classrooms, according to a recent survey that was sent to parents, teachers and students.

Is the change working? Are, for example, test scores higher in those classrooms where technology has taken over? So far, the sample is too small to make any real determinations, Fenter said. The answer to that question, he suggested, might well take a decade to ascertain. Meanwhile, the district plans to begin the introduction of the technology to the high school next year.

“This is very exciting,” Fenter said. “We have to see where the technology takes us next.”

In the next part of the series, the Herald visits a classroom using the new technology.