Officials, both elected and administrative, with Mount Airy City Schools and Surry County Schools are on the right track in their desires to make sure students are ready for the technology that is now driving the global economy.

Both school systems have been focused on getting the right technology in their schools to make a difference in the education the county’s students are getting. And rightfully so.

Surry County Schools’ leaders are on a drive to put a laptop in every students hands, and will start with the incoming seventh graders when school starts in August, or shortly after. They are also making sure the teachers know how to properly implement the laptops and software available into their classroom lesson plans.

Mount Airy City Schools’ officials are bringing technology to students in a number of ways, as well as using it to keep their parents and staff up-to-date.

The school system has made a drive to put SmartBoards, which are interactive computer-driven white boards, at the finger tips of all elementary school children, and are pushing the continuous use of Web sites at their schools. Also, in a new effort, the system is bringing up-to-date information to parents and others through connections on Facebook and Twitter.

Technology is an ever-changing element of the world, constantly evolving, and the school systems will have to work hard to keep up with its updates and changes.

We encourage the school systems to keep up their work to make sure students are ready for the world that comes after school.

And as important as technology is in today’s world, we also don’t want leaders to forget to keep encouraging students to open books, no matter how much technology is around them.