iBooks in Maine

ziggy on 2003-03-05T15:08:13

The New York Times reports that the program to give an iBook to every 7th grader in Maine looks like it's a success:

Attendance is up. Detentions are down. Just six months after Maine began a controversial program to provide laptop computers to every seventh grader in the state, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology.

In a language arts class at Freeport Middle School, for example, muted howls could be heard recently as students researched projects related to Arctic stories, including "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London. Following Internet tracks created by their teacher, Janice Murphy, some students, inspired by the story, were researching wolves.

"Look," said Doug Hoover, 13, double-clicking on a wolf site. "Here's a picture of the sound waves the wolf makes when it howls."

Although this program is a good way to invest part of what used to be a $50 million state surplus, I can think of better ways to spend money than increasing attendance, reducing detentions and looking at pretty pictures of wolf howls instead of reading Jack London in English class...

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Thinking of school

ajtaylor on 2003-03-05T17:58:01

I was just thinking of high school. I read Paul Graham's essay on Nerds just now and it resonates with me that what schools need is to provide a _purpose_ to students. I think it's very cool that having a laptop helps give students the desire to learn. Learning for learnings sake is often a good thing. Money well spent.

I hope they got the AppleCare to go along with those laptops though. :-)

Re:Thinking of school

pudge on 2003-03-05T18:02:17

Maybe it's just me, but I think parents should give kids a purpose, and schools should give kids tools and instructions for how to use them.

Re:Thinking of school

ajtaylor on 2003-03-05T18:53:05

Well spoken pudge! I was assuming that parents step up to their role as parents. But we all know what happens when you assume. :-)

I definitely think parents should give their children's _lives_ purpose. But I was speaking more of school, that school should have a purpose for the kids and not just be a "dumping ground" as Paul Graham notes. If kids feel that there is a reason behind school perhaps that will encourage them to learn. I still think parents need to take a lot more responsibility for their children's lives. But I recognize that there are outside influences as well. Might as well make them be good ones!

Re:Thinking of school

pudge on 2003-03-05T19:01:09

I dunno. I just don't want a school to give my child purpose, because I don't know what that purpose will be.