When Mankato area taxpayers said yes to a 2005 technology referendum, the school district’s promise was to usher its schools into the digital age.

The referendum provided an additional $500,000 in annual technology revenue for seven years and the spending goals were to improve access to technology and increase the security and reliability of the district’s digital infrastructure.

During this week’s Mankato Area School Board meeting, Director of Media and Technology Services Doug Johnson said the district is meeting those goals.

Since the referendum, 175 classrooms — or 43 percent of all district classrooms — have been outfitted with Smart Boards, which are interactive white boards that can be used to surf the Web, project digital images and store lesson plans. Teachers have gained the ability to bolster their personal Web pages with document galleries, PodCasts and discussion forums. Schools have upgraded computer labs and purchased software. Tech training in some form is available for almost all district staff.

And in the future, Johnson said he sees the potential for a student laptop program and hybrid classrooms.

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