At the Plano Independent School District in Texas, Associate Superintendent for Technology and Academic Services Jim Hirsch is preparing for the future.

At a time when the internet, once strictly an informational resource, is being transformed into a virtual hub of web-based services and applications--giving users viable alternatives to expensive, proprietary school software applications--Hirsch has been traveling the country, talking to colleagues and painting a picture of what he sees as the next evolution in educational technology.

Within five years, Hirsch predicts, not a single desktop in this 52,000-student school system in metropolitan Dallas will carry the image of a proprietary school software program. Gone will be the familiar Microsoft applications and desktop icons that over the years have become synonymous with document creation. In their place will be a suite of lesser-known, but equally capable alternatives--or, what Hirsch likes to call "open technologies."

Though some might see his plans as ambitious, Hirsch is hardly alone in his dreams. Plano ISD is part of a fast-growing cadre of school districts across the country actively exploring the use of free web-based services and open-source school software alternatives.

Last summer, the state of Indiana announced a plan to deploy more than 24,000 computers with Linux operating systems in its schools. At the time, the project--called inAccess--represented the largest single distribution of Linux-based technology in U.S. K-12 schools (see story: Desktop Linux rolls into Indiana). Experts estimate the deployment could expand to more than 170,000 desktops across the state by the end of this year.

Educators also are awaiting the arrival of former MIT Media Lab Director Nicholas Negroponte's $100 laptop. Built on an open-source platform that is a scaled-down version of Linux, the machines are being touted as a low-cost, one-to-one computing solution for children in developing nations. Negroponte, who demonstrated the machines at the National Education Computing Conference in San Diego this past summer, already has inked deals to supply the machines to education ministries in several third-world countries, though he says U.S. schools will have to wait at least another year before they can expect to get their hands on the computers. (Watch the seven-minute news clip, "$100 laptop ... Billion-dollar idea")

Experts say the technologies, built on a platform that promotes collaboration among users and encourages schools to share and modify applications to meet students' needs, embody the spirit of innovation and sharing they say is essential to upgrading school computing for the next century.

Though industry watchers say it's unrealistic to think schools eventually will abandon proprietary software products in favor of open alternatives, the thinking among many district technology coordinators is that, as the market for open technologies in education expands, schools will enjoy the luxury of shopping for solutions aligned with students' and teachers' specific needs--regardless of platform.