For the first time in decades, students at Arkansas' Nettleton High School will not find copies of The Chieftain floating around campus. Instead, they'll find the school newspaper online.

Beginning with the September issue, the paper became internet-only.

"This generation is an online generation," said adviser Dinah McClurg, citing one of the reasons the Jonesboro-based school decided to make the switch.

The teacher said many of the students liked reading the paper, but actual sales were usually about 50 papers for each month's issue.

Now, circulation isn't limited by such figures--and the money saved in production fees is helping to pay for additional training in journalism skills.

Nettleton is not the first school to experiment with online journalism. With the internet taking a more central role in students' lives, both at school and from home, schools nationwide have begun exploring the benefits of moving their student newspapers to the web.

Through a program offered by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), at least 470 middle and high school newspapers now host all, or part, of the content they publish online.

Program organizers say the online repository (www.myhighschooljournalism.org) is meant to help aspiring journalists showcase their work and compare their efforts to those of students in other schools. Schools can register for the site by filling out an application and paying a $50 sign-up fee; beyond that, the organization says, there are no additional charges.

As part of the effort, the ASNE selects the articles it deems among the best from participating schools and features them as part of its National Edition, a compilation of articles from student journalists nationwide.

A companion site--www.highschooljournalism.org--also has lesson plans for teaching journalism, as well as resources for students who are considering journalism as a career.

Nettleton doesn't participate in ASNE's program. The decision to move online was made independently, school officials say. Students already go online for so much of their other news and information that it seemed logical to put The Chieftain online as well, McClurg told the Associated Press.

"You open up your readership so much," she said.

An added benefit: It cuts costs dramatically. There are no printing costs, but students still get much of the same experience. Photography, writing, page design, and other skills are learned just as they would be if the publication were actually printed.

McClurg said advertising money made from the paper will be used for conferences and other activities instead of for production costs.

The paper can be reached from a link on the district's web site at www.nettletonschools.net. Although a print edition isn't available, McClurg said, anyone with basic technology can download the paper and print it out or burn it to a disc.