Mercer Island to Give All 10th/11th Graders iPads
From the Stranger Slog:
The Mercer Island School District will kick off its "One to One" iPad initiative next month by distributing free iPads to all 10th and 11th graders. The iPads will be used by students for the remainder of the year, returned for the summer, and then redistributed in September.
Say what you want about the economic disparity that allows districts like Mercer Island to hand out iPads while other districts struggle to pay for more basic needs, but I'm guessing that this technology will be the norm in schools, not the exception, by the end of the decade. The advantages over traditional textbooks are too obvious and numerous to list. This is the future.
But there's one huge advantage that might not be so obvious about this inevitable shift away from print and toward digital: It breaks the power of the Texas Board of Education to dictate what is and is not in our nation's textbooks. Because Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks in the English-speaking world, publishers
The Mercer Island School District will kick off its "One to One" iPad initiative next month by distributing free iPads to all 10th and 11th graders. The iPads will be used by students for the remainder of the year, returned for the summer, and then redistributed in September.
Say what you want about the economic disparity that allows districts like Mercer Island to hand out iPads while other districts struggle to pay for more basic needs, but I'm guessing that this technology will be the norm in schools, not the exception, by the end of the decade. The advantages over traditional textbooks are too obvious and numerous to list. This is the future.
But there's one huge advantage that might not be so obvious about this inevitable shift away from print and toward digital: It breaks the power of the Texas Board of Education to dictate what is and is not in our nation's textbooks. Because Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks in the English-speaking world, publishers
Mr. Greenberg's Opus at last night's Seattle School Board Meeting
It was quite the meeting (but I left after the speakers).
First up was the great Denny International Middle School Jazz Band. I have to love any group that first plays that old jazz chestnut, "Take the A Train," and follows up with "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." Priceless. (Their director had wanted to talk to the Board about the enrollment pathways from Denny to Sealth because many kids are still upset that they don't get to go to Sealth. His name was so far down the speaker list that he ended up not staying.)
Student rep on the Board, Dexter Tang, read the Student Senate's remarks (that were reprinted here yesterday) about the federal investigation of student discipline in SPS and about the Center School issue.
There were a couple of speakers who did NOT talk about The Center School. Residents of Wedgwood still don't want a new elementary at Thornton Creek and would like to be part of any planning. (Pegi McEvoy did get up and say that the Lake City property just can't be used in this case.)
First up was the great Denny International Middle School Jazz Band. I have to love any group that first plays that old jazz chestnut, "Take the A Train," and follows up with "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." Priceless. (Their director had wanted to talk to the Board about the enrollment pathways from Denny to Sealth because many kids are still upset that they don't get to go to Sealth. His name was so far down the speaker list that he ended up not staying.)
Student rep on the Board, Dexter Tang, read the Student Senate's remarks (that were reprinted here yesterday) about the federal investigation of student discipline in SPS and about the Center School issue.
There were a couple of speakers who did NOT talk about The Center School. Residents of Wedgwood still don't want a new elementary at Thornton Creek and would like to be part of any planning. (Pegi McEvoy did get up and say that the Lake City property just can't be used in this case.)
