Technology that wasn't even imagined 60 years ago is shaping education in the Tri-Cities today.

Computers have changed what's being taught and how those lessons are delivered.

Websites and e-mail have made communication between parents, teachers and administrators as easy as a few keystrokes and mouse clicks.

And schools - even elementary schools - have needed policies to address cell phones, iPods and other gadgets that have found their way into backpacks alongside pencils and paper.

And the impact of technology certainly has been felt in higher education, which has seen dramatic growth since 1947.

Columbia Basin College in Pasco opened with 299 students in 1955. It now has about 7,000 students per quarter who can earn degrees or certificates in everything from agriculture to computer science.

The college started offering online classes in 1997, and now 20 percent of students are taking at least one course that way.

The fact that more people are signing up for classes beyond high school is another shift in the past 10 to 15 years, said Lee Thornton, CBC president.

"Higher education has almost become mass higher education now. Any educator or anybody in business will say you need to have some post-secondary experience. That's a real change in our culture," he said.

And there are more opportunities for higher learning in the Tri-Cities now than ever before.

Washington State University's branch campus in Richland, which opened in 1989, welcomed its first freshman class of 117 students this year. The state Legislature in 2006 passed a law allowing the campus to begin admitting underclassmen.

Chancellor Vicky Carwein said the Tri-Cities community deserves much of the credit.

People here lobbied lawmakers and pledged money to the university to help with recruitment. Members of the first freshman class got scholarships and the use of laptop computers.

"(Community support) is the reason the campus has been successful in the past. It's the reason it will be successful in the future," Carwein said.

Officials at both CBC and WSU Tri-Cities are thinking about that future. The schools each are considering or planning building projects. Student housing could be an option at both campuses in coming years.

What exactly education will look like then is unclear, though officials do say technology will play an important role.

A project that could be significant to education in the Tri-Cities is in the planning stages now.

Battelle, WSU Tri-Cities and the Richland, Pasco and Kennewick school districts are exploring starting a new high school centered around science, technology, engineering and math education.

The public school would draw students from throughout the Tri-Cities.

Thornton has said his college would be open to participating in some way. WSU Tri-Cities has offered space on its campus.