Four years ago, Westside High School became the first in Omaha to hand out laptops to students. Tuesday, the school board voted unanimously to expand the program to include eighth-graders.

Westside eighth-graders Michael Mellen and Parker Grogan will get an educational present this year. “It will make eighth-graders more responsible and it's like training for high school," says Mellen.

"I think it will really help us so we can become more advanced into the technology world because right now most kids, you know, they use laptops, they use iPods,” says Grogan.

They are two of nearly 500 eighth-graders who will get a loaned Apple laptop, a more than $600,000 investment by the district.

Teacher Lance Mosier thinks it's a great idea. "With them being able to take the computer home they're going to be able to go a lot more in-depth in certain topics, especially my higher level students, I can really push them.”

Mosier adds it's just a sign of the times. "Most of our students do not handle themselves in a traditional classroom setting. It's very hard for them. They're so used to media and video and instant information. Sitting in a traditional lecture for 30 or 40 minutes how we were in class is very hard for them to do, they're just not used to it. That's just not their environment."

The middle school laptop loan program is an expansion of the existing high school program, one that high school teacher Brenda Zabel says is working well.

"We can offer visual things or multimedia ways for them to see things and experience things and then to have them create things in those types of media also to show us they understand."

In 2004, all 1,900 Westside High students were loaned an Apple laptop loaded with class assignments, guides and tutorials. It was a $2.5 million technological investment.

Teachers and students agree it's definitely a twist on traditional learning, but benefits everyone. “Now that they have these tools in their hands, teachers will be able to expect even more of them, what can I have them do before they come to class?" says Zabel. "What can I ask them to do after they leave my class? And it really just extends your classroom."

Students will still have textbooks. Parents and students will have to go through an orientation session before they receive the computers.

Just like textbooks, parents are responsible for any damage. The laptops do have Internet access with parental controls, allowing parents to block inappropriate sites.