iPad to replace textbooks in Wisconsin school

RACINE — Leticia Poisl-Lopez has a small rip on the top of her backpack from carrying heavy books for her classes at St. Catherine’s High School, 1200 Park Ave.
Poisl-Lopez, 15, and her classmates will soon say goodbye to their textbooks.

Students starting in St. Catherine’s middle school program next year will receive a portable touch screen computer — an Apple iPad.
The iPad is about the size of a thin text book. Electronic books can be downloaded onto it, there is a touch screen keyboard, and teachers can use it to interact with students.

The technology will start with the new middle school classes, which are brand new next year and both have 27 students enrolled in them. The technology program will expand to all St. Catherine students sixth grade through 12th grade by the 2012-2013 school year, said School President Christopher Olley.

 “We think it’s time to do something to take advantage of technology,” Olley said. “This is a small step for this age group.”
The students who are enrolled in St. Catherine’s new sixth- and seventh-grade classes will pay a $400 technology fee, which will go towards the new iPads, Olley said.

That fee will cover the cost that parents would have otherwise spent on books for their students, Olley said, which can be anywhere from $300 to $600 per year.

Internet is needed to access some of the applications, said St. Catherine’s Technology Director Zac Pawlowski. And almost all students, 98 percent, have Internet access at home, Pawlowski said.  If students want to read their electronic school books in an area that doesn’t have internet, certain documents can be saved onto the iPad, he said.

Sophomore Maxwell Christensen, 15, thinks that the technology is a good idea, but he thinks sixth and seventh graders are too young to have an iPad.

Sarah Busey, 10 of Mount Pleasant, on the other hand, doesn’t think she is too young.
“I know I’ll be able to handle it,” said Busey, who is going into Sixth grade next year at St. Catherine’s.
“It’s going to keep things a lot more organized,” she said.

Pawlowski is not concerned about the age of the students getting the technology.
He visited a school in Memphis where first-graders had MacBooks and they took care of them, he said.
Students will be taught how to take care of the computers, which will be insured in case of accidents, Pawlowski said.
By starting with new middle school students, the school’s new teachers can design their curriculum with the technology in mind, Pawlowski said.

The next year, the 2011-2012 academic year, high school teachers will receive the technology so they can start planning their curriculum for the next year.

By the 2012-2013 school year Olley said all students sixth grade through 12th grade will have iPads or similar technology to replace their text books. 

That would mean that by the time Poisl-Lopez, a freshman from Mount Pleasant, is a senior she will be able to use the new technology. She wishes it was sooner.

“We wouldn’t have to carry so many books,” Poisl-Lopez said, excited about the idea of getting rid of her heavy textbooks in the future.

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_8aa8a406-69b4-11df-94b7-001cc4c002e0.html

APPL100: Introductory to hipster douchebaggery.

Actually though, this is severely limiting the textbooks from the best to the available. In addition, what are the chances of the majority of the kids not some how damaging or losing their ipads? Gone is their homework.
More so, what's to ensure that the kids aren't playing games throughout school rather than studying? Computers are a major distraction.
I also think it's sad that companies can weasel their way into the education system and turn it into capital.

And no, Irock, I'm not just saying this because it's the ipad. Computers and the internet are a major distraction to almost any form of productivity.

How do you draw graphs and diagrams on an ipad? It's finger controlled, so any drawings would be sloppy ;o.
And how could 6th/7th graders spend 300 to 600 dollars on textbooks a year?
I'm 17, and I spent less than 100 NZD (around 70/80 USD) on all my books.

At that age, I spent $0 on textbooks. The school just loans them out and takes 'em back later. Well, $0 disregarding taxes.

I'd imagine they're just ebooks, and that you would still have to hand in pencil and paper homework.

I think the iPad has a lot of potential as an educational device. The Elements is an application that impresses me just by looking at it; it demonstrates and gets you thinking about the possibilities of teaching. Something like this blows away the standard periodic table or anything a book could do.

What can be done on the iPad will blow away any text book.

In addition, what are the chances of the majority of the kids not some how damaging or losing their ipads? Gone is their homework.

I highly doubt the *majority* of kids would damage or lose their iPads. As the article said, 1st graders dealt with Macbooks just fine. I really doubt many would lose their iPads. I've never lost something that large in my life, and I've never even lost my iPod Touch in the 2 or 3 years I've had it.

More so, what's to ensure that the kids aren't playing games throughout school rather than studying? Computers are a major distraction.

Kids are just as likely to goof off, talk during class or draw. Besides, I know that on iPhone OS 2 I can disable explicit content, disable safari, disable Youtube, disable iTunes, and disable installing apps then require a password for doing any of these things. If I remember correctly, iPhone OS 4 allows you to set even more restrictions. iPad distraction issue solved. I also don't think the kids' homework will be on the iPad itself.

I myself wouldn't trust the Ipads over textbooks, too much could go wrong with them. Then again I'm biased when people want to get rid of textbooks.

What could go wrong? Is it going to get a virus? :VVVV

Well, it could short circuit. I don't care how advance technology is these days, it can and probably will happen. Then someone might hack the Ipad and get past all the information. No not the kids, maybe one of their family members might, you never know. Then someone could accidentally drop it and it could crack or worse, doing that to a textbook would harm it as much, especially if it was hardcover.

As for the virus information, I don't know. I don't have the kind of money for an Ipad.

....

The iPad is not going to short circuit. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

There's no information to get from someone "hacking" it. The only thing they'd find on the iPad would be educational applications.

I doubt many kids would drop their iPad. If they do, then make them buy another. The article even states that 1st graders handled Macbooks properly.

An unmodified iPad will not get a virus.

A lot of schools and colleges have the student use laptops anyway.

fuck racine.

....

The iPad is not going to short circuit. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

There's no information to get from someone "hacking" it. The only thing they'd find on the iPad would be educational applications.

I doubt many kids would drop their iPad. If they do, then make them buy another. The article even states that 1st graders handled Macbooks properly.

An unmodified iPad will not get a virus.

A lot of schools and colleges have the student use laptops anyway.

Its an electronic no? There will always be that chance.

When hacking it they could add something to it.
Also they 'said' they handled it well, doesn't mean it was true. Either way the point I'm making besides the point, I'm always suspicious of that kind of things, I just don't think its worth replacing the textbooks.

....

The iPad is not going to short circuit. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

There's no information to get from someone "hacking" it. The only thing they'd find on the iPad would be educational applications.

I doubt many kids would drop their iPad. If they do, then make them buy another. The article even states that 1st graders handled Macbooks properly.

An unmodified iPad will not get a virus.

A lot of schools and colleges have the student use laptops anyway.

Its an electronic no? There will always be that chance.

When hacking it they could add something to it.
Also they 'said' they handled it well, doesn't mean it was true. Either way the point I'm making besides the point, I'm always suspicious of that kind of things, I just don't think its worth replacing the textbooks.

Find me a case of an iPad short circuiting. You're making the dumbest argument ever. There's a better chance of you being struck by lightning twice in the same day. If the iPad somehow short circuits or fries itself, it will be replaced.

What the fuck are they going to add to it? What kind of sinister person is going to go around developing malicious software, physically jailbreaking kids' school iPads then installing some sort of malicious software on them? There would be absolutely no advantage to doing something like that, and it will never happen.

I know from experience that kids can handle technology properly. When I was younger, I never damaged any hardware because I understood that breaking things = bad. My 8 or 9 year old cousin has had a netbook for a year or so and has never dropped or damaged it. If a kid breaks their iPad, their parents will just have to buy them a new one, just as they do with textbooks.

Your suspicion is founded on top of a totally weak argument.

The advantages are just too good to pass up.

Little known fact: Just because they haven't doesn't mean that they can't. Electronic devices explode quite frequently, actually!

My biggest problem is that Apple sees education as a potential market place to gain. They obviously do, because they've done it before. (By "it" I mean contracting schools to use Apple products.) Companies should have no or very little influence upon our educational system.

Just to clarify, I think that schools giving children laptops is not only a waste of money but also going a bit too far.

Apple sees education just as any other company sees any market; they see it no differently than the companies who write and publish the textbooks, the companies who manufacture school desks, the companies who manufacture white boards, the companies who manufacture markers, the companies who manufacture pencil sharpeners and the people who sold or built the building that the school takes place in. Apple makes products, and if a school wants to use those products, they can. This is what they do with everything else in the school. I see absolutely no problem with this.

The markets are completely different for technology firms and construction firms.

EDUCATION should not be a market (with the exception of textbooks and other necessary school supplies); building a school is a completely different thing entirely. Textbook manufacturers aren't being factored out because they still need to create the textbooks. Apple's role is the way we consume education. The more control a company has in the way which we can consume, the more influence they have upon what we can consume.
If Top's, for example, decided it no longer wanted to stock pasta sauce from a company that it doesn't like (for any number of reasons), it affects everybody. Those who consume the pasta sauce and those who produce the pasta sauce. It forces the producers to play by Top's rules and the consumer to has less to choose from. It's a lose-lose for the everybody but the retailer, who starts to gain a monopoly in their market.

The markets are completely different for technology firms and construction firms.

EDUCATION should not be a market (with the exception of textbooks and other necessary school supplies); building a school is a completely different thing entirely. Textbook manufacturers aren't being factored out because they still need to create the textbooks. Apple's role is the way we consume education. The more control a company has in the way which we can consume, the more influence they have upon what we can consume.
If Top's, for example, decided it no longer wanted to stock pasta sauce from a company that it doesn't like (for any number of reasons), it affects everybody. Those who consume the pasta sauce and those who produce the pasta sauce. It forces the producers to play by Top's rules and the consumer to has less to choose from. It's a lose-lose for the everybody but the retailer, who starts to gain a monopoly in their market.

Apple isn't going to block curriculum from the device because they don't like the people making the curriculum, or they disagree with the curriculum. If Apple does do something the school doesn't like, the school doesn't have to use the iPad. Nobody's being forced into using the iPad for anything. My local Wal-Mart doesn't carry cholula hot sauce, so I go elsewhere-- same thing with everything else.

Besides, it's possible the school could use enterprise features and host and distribute their applications to students locally. Apple would have no say over what applications are and aren't allowed. I'm predicting this is what they're going to do, as it makes the most sense.

I love cholula, but that's a bad point. The students that use the iPad can only use whatever textbooks that are available for it.

That was an example.
If you let a company take advantage of a new opening to make money, there's a good chance that they'll abuse it to make even more. If anybody were to be given enough time to establish a popular proprietary piece of software or hardware, the consumers are stuck between using its features and coping with its restrictions or not having anything to do with it whatsoever. (With iTunes and iPods being a perfect example.)
That's fine for the hard-knock life of capitalism, but a school should NOT be forced into this agreement through a retailer for their curriculum.

Many schools already do that through their websites.

Students don't have a choice as to which textbooks they use; school administration chooses what textbooks the students will use. Education companies will want to capitalize on the opportunity to gain presence in schools via the iPad, and virtual textbooks and educational applications will be created, and competition will be created, which will cause these education companies to improve their applications and virtual textbooks to stay on top. School administration will then choose what they feel is best, just as they do now. Everyone wins; Apple, education companies, schools, and students.

Explain to me how Apple is going to abuse the education market to make more money and how this is going to have a negative effect on students. Macs have a strong educational presence, and Apple isn't doing anything to limit what students can and can't do on them. Windows machines also have a strong educational presence, but Microsoft isn't limiting what students can and can't do either.

Apple will not control curriculum, schools are not forced to use the iPad, and students are not forced to attend schools that use the iPad.

Yes, and the students' textbooks would be limited to what's available on the App store. That is what I said; not that the students pick their textbooks.
One school is using the iPad for certain students. The entire textbook industry isn't going to make available their textbooks for the chance that they get picked for one subject in one school.

I had never said that Apple would abuse its power and exploit the market. I simply said given the opportunity, most companies will take the chance to make more money. Which leads me to...

My point is that if Apple does it (and let me be specific here, if Apple starts to market their iPad to schools), other companies will too. It could act as the catalyst. Look at the iPod; it wasn't in any way, shape or form the first MP3 player, but it made them much better and everybody started to notice. Come 10 years later, you can buy MP3 players from tens of hundreds of different brands. It's one small push that Apple needs to start a the ball rolling, and they already have a chunk in their mouth. I think it's bad that companies that have nothing directly to do with education could have so much power over education.
Enron is another perfect example of what it could lead to. Enron literally locked down the energy market in California after the California government ruled that energy could be publicly traded. Enron had it all under their possession and started to be dicks, which caused riots and eventually lead to the California government making energy private again. That may not be exactly what happened, but it's generally, IIRC, what happened.
No, I'm not saying that Apple will be to the education market what Enron was to the energy market; I'm giving an example as to what could happen when people (people, not Apple specifically - aggressive business tactics create aggressive competitors) start to turn education into capital. (And by this I do not mean start to trade it as though it were stock.)

I never said this was solely about Apple, and I have clearly and frankly stated that I am against schools giving out laptops to students as well. My reason for opposing this is what it could lead to, in addition to the potential loss of productivity among children (and by extension, the loss of education itself).

Textbooks are regulated, Apple is not.

They could put ANYTHING on the iPad, specifically advertising marketed at children. What can the kids do? Nothing.

What can the schools do? Stop using them.

Yes, and the students' textbooks would be limited to what's available on the App store. That is what I said; not that the students pick their textbooks.
One school is using the iPad for certain students. The entire textbook industry isn't going to make available their textbooks for the chance that they get picked for one subject in one school.

Firstly, don't assume they're going to be in the App store. They could be put on devices locally in a method similar to Apple's iPhone OS enterprise options.

They'll be limited to whatever's available for the iPad, and if they don't like what's available they won't use the iPad. If the iPad ever catches on for these private schools, educational companies will, without a doubt, start doing iPad textbooks and applications. Based on the article, the school's either already thought that far or has no idea how they're going to replace textbooks with the iPad. Perhaps they'll have these textbooks converted for display on the iPad. Whatever the case is, they probably already have this figured out.

I had never said that Apple would abuse its power and exploit the market. I simply said given the opportunity, most companies will take the chance to make more money.

My point is that if Apple does it (and let me be specific here, if Apple starts to market their iPad to schools), other companies will too. It could act as the catalyst. Look at the iPod; it wasn't in any way, shape or form the first MP3 player, but it made them much better and everybody started to notice. Come 10 years later, you can buy MP3 players from tens of hundreds of different brands. It's one small push that Apple needs to start a the ball rolling, and they already have a chunk in their mouth.

The desire for profit drives companies to make better products and to innovate. This is a good thing.

I think it's bad that companies that have nothing directly to do with education could have so much power over education.

What power? Unless they're a total monopoly and there are no other options, any bad moves the companies make will result in a loss for them, as people will go to the other options.

Enron is another perfect example of what it could lead to. Enron literally locked down the energy market in California after the California government ruled that energy could be publicly traded. Enron had it all under their possession and started to be dicks, which caused riots and eventually lead to the California government making energy private again. That may not be exactly what happened, but it's generally, IIRC, what happened.

There were many more variables in the California electricity crisis. It was a very flawed market with government price caps that lead to rationing.

I really doubt a free submarket with so many tech companies, education companies and options would lead to any monopolies or crises. There's no reason it would.

I never said this was solely about Apple, and I have clearly and frankly stated that I am against schools giving out laptops to students as well. My reason for opposing this is what it could lead to, in addition to the potential loss of productivity among children (and by extension, the loss of education itself).

As long as the submarket remains free, there are so many tech companies, there are so many education companies, and these private schools have options, it will not turn into these situations you seem to think it could lead to.

There is not a loss of productivity when the school can place restrictions on what the iPad can do, which they can. If these applications are executed well, this will lead to a more engaging and interactive experience that pulls the students more into the curriculum. The iPad enables endless possibilities; animation, 3D models, video, audio, interactive maps, and so much more. I support this because I believe kids would get a better education.

Well, this thread turned out exactly like I thought it would.

This is a horribel idea. Nothing anyone can say will ever change my mind.

Well, this thread turned out exactly like I thought it would.

This is a horrible idea. Nothing anyone can say will ever change my mind.

Agreed. Iunno why, but somehow before I even clicked the thread, I knew that Irock would be in here wildly defending Apple.

It's not really a good idea, considering the cost to replace damaged equipment... my view on the "pros and cons" argument ended with that.

Nobody is gonna want to drop 400 duckets on a new iPad when their kid breaks it or screws it up.

30 to 50 duckets on a textbook? A lot more likely.

This isn't Rand-Land; corporations do bad things.

Enron did pretty much cause the crisis. They helped convince California to deregulated the market, then Enron jacked up prices and people refused to pay. Power was cut across the state, there were rolling blackouts, and all in the middle of wild-fire season. The point is that when companies can start weaseling their way into things that they normally can't get into, they start to abuse their new found power (and I'm not specifically speaking about Apple).

You don't need an ipad to have a textbook.
The point of education is to teach, not to profit. (Also in before the obligatory "Why wouldn't they want to make money?", they need to make money, yes, but schooling shouldn't be for-profit.)

I agree with you guys. I mean, I even put a disclaimer of sorts in my original post. He's sexy though, he just keeps pulling me in. He's like a venus fly trap.