Educational technology is no longer a luxury in elementary and secondary schools. It is an essential 21st century learning tool, in private and public schools alike. The Hawaii Department of Education’s plan to eventually put a laptop or tablet computer in the hands of every public-school student and teacher recognizes this reality, and attaches the necessary urgency to expanding access in a state that is striving mightily to send more students to college — where some level of technological aptitude is assumed.

Hawaii lawmakers and Gov. David Ige must support expanding access to educational technology, even in this constrained fiscal climate. Elected officials perennially claim to be all for public education, then fall short on the funding needed to attain and sustain excellence. The DOE’s $30.8 million budget request to help schools purchase a total of 60,000 laptops or tablets over the next two years works out to about $500 per device — a worthy investment in the future of our state.

Already, the DOE’s prudent foray into this realm has been a success, based on a pilot project that supplied a digital learning device for every student and teacher at eight public schools on Oahu and Hawaii island, starting in the 2013-14 school year.

A survey of teachers at the schools found that the vast majority lauded the devices for helping them create assignments, plan for instruction, present lessons and create integrated lessons; approval rates ranged from 82 to 94 percent, depending on the question. Similarly high percentages of students, in a separate survey, reported that the devices make schoolwork more interesting and have improved the quality of their schoolwork. The DOE is analyzing academic data now to confirm whether the students’ perceptions are reflected in their grades and test scores.

The high satisfaction rates are no surprise. Laptops or tablets, connected to the Internet, break down the walls of a school and put the whole wide world in the hands of students and teachers. Formerly dry lectures and reading assignments become multi-sensory experiences, as students delve into a rich source of interactive material, including clickable text and visual and audio files. Video chats allow them to engage with fellow students and teachers around the globe, as well as scholars, researchers and other experts.

On Hawaii island, students at Keaau Elementary School, one of the schools in the DOE’s pilot, took students from Mexico City along on a virtual field trip into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, live-streaming video of their hike into Kilauea Iki crater.

Moanalua Middle School’s "paperless campus" has students managing coursework in everything from band to science on their MacBook Air laptops.

Kindergartners at Mililani Mauka Elementary School use iPads to take turns recording each other reading aloud, polishing their word recognition and pronunciation.

In ways large and small, technology is transforming learning at these campuses.

This is how it has been for years at independent schools such as Punahou School, a pioneer in implementing instructional technology in Hawaii. Of course, students at Punahou and other private schools with 1:1 computer programs pay for the privilege, in annual tuition and in additional technology fees. The burden on taxpayers of providing this same level of technological access to public-school students "for free" has long been an obstacle, and continues to pose challenges.

But as the schools involved in the DOE’s pilot project make clear: There is no putting this genie back in the bottle. The benefits to students are so obvious that the only appropriate response is to expand the 1:1 program to more public schools, once teachers are trained to properly implement the technology.

Gaining full, long-term funding may require an infusion from the state, via the Legislature and governor; a reallocation of some of the DOE’s $1.8 billion in general funds; a commitment from charitable foundations or other donors; or a combination of all three. However it happens, it’s got to happen.

As Chad Keone Farias, superintendent for the complex of schools that includes Keaau Elementary, observed: "There’s no way to turn back. We can’t go back to classrooms where students are just looking at a textbook."