Over time, every major industry and institution has shifted away from using paper. Businesses share information and forms over email, newspapers have shifted their content to a digital realm and even book stores have begun to offer less books, and more e-readers. So why then, do high schools stand pat, offering larger text books than ever and allowing students to develop troubling back problems as they lug around their pounds and pounds of paper.

LT has finally made the right decision, and is wisely headed towards the paperless direction in the next few years, hoping to have one personal laptop or tablet for each student. It’s a direction that few other schools are heading in, which makes it all the more commendable on LT’s part.

The concerns with the system are obvious, namely that there will be an inability for some students to obtain such devices, but that qualm is really unfounded considering there are many easy-to-use laptops that cost a little less than what one’s books will cost at the start of every year. If LT needs to make an exception and cover some costs, it would be no different from the price tag they would see with books at the start of the year.

One might also argue that some wealthier students will have access to better computers and therefore will create a technology-wealth gap. This gap would allow them access to better applications and because of that advantage, they will perform better in school. This issue is ridiculous, as most classes only use the internet and a word processor, which are simple applications that can be found on any computer. If a student needs to use a high level application like Adobe Illustrator, then they can use a LT owned desktop. It’s a simple problem that comes with a simple solution.

Besides that, the one-to-one system is nearly flawless. It could encourage all assignments to become digital, which opens up a lot of advantages in terms of how assignments are assigned, completed and checked. Students can simply go home, complete the homework which would be posted on school web page, finish it on their device and send it right on back to the teacher. No way the student or teacher can misplace the assignment, and five minutes aren’t wasted in class the next day, swooping around checking if everyone has completed their assignment.

Mentioning how flawless that system is almost makes you forget its other simple advantages: it’s great for the environment, it helps save the backs of those who have been lugging around 20 pound backpacks to and from school and it creates more organization for every single student and teacher. In terms of efficiency, having a device for each student will streamline just about every single important function of a school.

LT’s movement towards a system where each student has an electronic device is the right one and it is only a shame that they didn’t make the decision sooner. It’s time to face the reality that many schools have been afraid to face for years now: we are slowly moving towards a paperless world, and we are some of the last people to join it.