Obtaining expert advice can ensure the selection of technology that will best serve the needs of the school district and continue to support the curriculum and academic content standards.

For example, if the Curriculum component identifies a need for student access to the Internet for research and word-processing capabilities, all that is technically required are stand­alone computers with modems and telephone lines.

However, speed of Internet access, student access to the hardware, storage space (whether each student stores his or her work on a personal disk or on the server), security, and technical support for individual machines are issues that need to be considered. An expert can help the district explore these issues and the long-term costs of the possible solutions so that the district can determine which solution will best serve its needs.