Posted on 02/12/2005 8:22:21 AM PST by groanup
Cobb County wants to spend nearly $70 million for 63,000 students and teachers to get state-of-the-art Apple laptop computers, complete with Microsoft Word and iTunes.
After months of negotiations, Superintendent Joseph Redden announced the cost and scope of a potential deal with Apple Computer. If the school board approves the first phase of the four-year, $69.9 million proposal, the first iBook G4 laptops would be distributed this spring.
By fall, four high schools would be outfitted as demonstration sites. Within a year, high schoolers could be working with a computer that, at 5 pounds, weighs less than most textbooks. Within three years, each of Cobb's teachers and middle and high school students could have a laptop.
The iBooks would come with Apple's latest operating system, plus Microsoft Office and wireless capability. Software would include Apple's iLife, which could be used to make digital movies, photos and music for school projects through programs like iTunes and GarageBand. The iBooks would be compatible with the school system's existing PCs.
"The kinds of things the students will be using out in the work force today, they'll be using in our schools," said Deputy Superintendent Donald Beers. Part of the cost goes to build a wireless network for schools countywide.
If fully implemented, it would be one of the largest school laptop programs in the country.
Apple would provide seven employees dedicated solely to training and operations, and operate a repair facility in Cobb. The laptops would have a four-year warranty, and the deal includes extra batteries.
Parents would be responsible for insurance, expected to be $50 a year. Redden said the school system's education foundation would work on fund-raising to help low-income families pay for the insurance.
The Cobb school district, which spent months negotiating with companies including IBM and Dell, claims the best price per laptop of any school system in the country: $271.26. Michigan paid $275 per machine in its recent laptop contract with Hewlett- Packard.
Add in the extras Cobb negotiated for — including support, training and maintenance — and the total cost is about $350 per person. For comparison, the cheapest retail price of the same computer loaded with the same features was $1,248 on apple.com.
John Seral, who has children in Cobb County middle and high schools, said he was "personally convinced this thing will be successful." He learned the details while working on an advisory panel for the school system.
Seral said he believed students would gain skills that have become invaluable in business. "Voice mail is virtually dead in our company," he said. "You have to have a laptop to function."
The Cobb deal would boost Apple's efforts to capture the k-12 education market. Vice President Barry Wright would not say what Apple's market share is, but the company has landed other major initiatives, including the nation's first in Maine and one in Henrico County, Va.
Mark Weston, who worked for Apple three years ago, when it provided laptops to 37,000 students and teachers in Maine, said the Cobb County deal would have people talking.
However, "the technology is just one piece of the equation for enhancing learning and teaching," he said. "The ultimate test will be how everyone uses these incredible tools."
Cobb County will pay for the program's start-up through a 1 percent sales tax voters approved in 2003 and which will expire in three years.
Most school board members seem comfortable with providing teachers with the laptops, but need assurance about the students.
Questions from the public include concerns about online security and at-home use. School officials have set up a Web site and e-mail to address questions and will conduct four information sessions before the board's March 9 vote.
The school system still needs a provider for wireless connectivity, as well as an Internet partner in the community, Redden said.
Proponents of "one computer to one student" point to reports of increased school attendance and fewer discipline problems. They say laptop programs bridge the "digital divide," putting cutting-edge technology in the hands of young people who otherwise could not afford it.
Some researchers, however, say more time is needed to understand the long-term impact of such programs. Critics say the money could be better spent on smaller classes and teacher development.
Our program provided the 12". I'll bet Cobb does the same thing to keep them small. These kids, in a few months, after the new wears off will be saying, "I'm tired of my laptop. I don't want one anymore," because they have to carry them everywhere. Our students cannot let their laptops out of their sight unless they're locked in a locker or a classroom.
That's nice. How does it raise the grades of AP calculus and English students? How does it get more kids into pre-med, for instance?
There was one of these 'giveaways' in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago. They still hadn't found a use for the laptops yet as far as I know. There was no curriculum behind doling the laptops out, other than some clueless school bureaucrat equating downloading porn with education.
Careful what you wish for....
John Edwards Knocking at your door with a MacIntosh in his hand, yelling
"It's Bush's fault!"
My wife's school district (where we live and where I graduated from) now gives out laptops to HS students. It is a waste of money.
Apple products are also a bad idea for this, in my view. Forget the quality issues and whether Macs are better, but initial costs and repair costs are going to be higher.
"My computer ate it"
These are supposed to iApples, not windoze machines.
Bad choice, in my opinion. How are these kids supposed to learn the fine art of rebuilding the lost data from the hard drive if they never suffer the pain of the Blue Screen of Death?
The cost seems inclusive of software:
"The iBooks would come with Apple's latest operating system, plus Microsoft Office ..."
In general, software for a Mac is quite a bit more expensive than for a PC.
Not here:
http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/ooo-osx_downloads.html
Don't you get it? They can use Keynote... KEYNOTE!
Call me dumb but I never heard of it.
That's the problem. And the kids that need to learn PowerPoint or Word will learn it anyway. Or they already have learned it on their own. It isn't like them trying to learn Smalltalk.
I had an Apple II+ my soph. year in HS. I did take a computer class to learn it, but that was an elective. I used it to type up debate briefs and also for maybe one or two other projects. Though I didn't have her, I heard that one teacher forbid the use of computer printed reports or papers, demanding typed ones. Don't know why.
Other than a couple of programming classes in college, all my computer knowledge is self taught. Teach the kids the fundamental education they need and skills like this will be easily learned by all.
But, even at the law school level, I've been told by people sitting in the back that the laptops are used for anything but notetaking. IM, internet, email, etc.
Now, I'll plead guilty to keeping outlook in the background, and if an interesting or critical email comes through, I read it, but the simple fact of the matter is that my mind is boggled that people don't pay attention in class.
(ahem)--This computer is actually solid, elegant, and very easy to carry. Great for surfing, composing and publishing. It's not good for gameplay. I'm not saying this Atlanta venture is wise--but I'm going to be interested in seeing how it works out.
What would a conservative school district do with $70 million?
Build more buildings $15 miliion
Summer classes for at risk $10 million
New books and materials $10 million
After school tutors $ 2 million
Vocational development $20 million
New teachers $13 million
*Within two days each computer that is being used by the kids will be infected with every variety of spyware, adware, popup, etc., making Internet use almost impossible. Who is gonna teach the kids about Popperstopper, Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc.?
*To paraphrase Milton Friedman, people care the least for things that other people paid for and gave them. I'd be surprised if 1/4 of the 63,000 computers are in operation at any given time.
*What about a succession plan? This means they are going into the business of providing computers and support---hardly a one-off expenditure. The computers that survive will be obsolete in three years. Then what?
*What do their lawyers say? When some child uses his/her 'puter for hooking up with someone online who turns out to be an adult, lawsuits will fly, and the County will be the plaintiff.
*Powerpoint? The kids are going to learn Powerpoint. This is so post-modern. It's about teaching the kids STYLE and appearance and perception---how to PRESENT...who cares about content...Make sure the kid knows how to spin stuff with fluff and visuals. One name for that is "chartware"---products you create that exist only on a powerpoint slide.
*If it's like any other government entity I know of, kickbacks are flying among Cobb county bureaucrats.
It's a harmonic convergence. 12" laptops are a good size for youngsters and Apple has a pipeline to parts for 12" laptops. May have even committed (signed contracts) itself to assembling 12" ones, buying 12" parts. Apple was selling 12 inch laptops long after PC makers dropped them. I'm not talking about 12" ultra light laptops which are rightly priced in the stratosphere.
Our kids take them home, have their own e-mail accounts, etc.
Classroom logistics are easy with charging stations and adequate wireless coverage.
Some of our machines are 3 years old, and are still doing fine. Apple is great to work with, and Maine has it's own repair depot. Just get a ticket online for the serial number of the machine to be repaired, box it, and UPS comes the next day with a pre-printed ticket.
I usually use Windows, having all MS desktops, a Thinkpad and a couple of HP laptops, but I also have a IBook for work. I also have and use linux or BSD machines for various tasks.
In a school/internet environment, I think an iBook may be more cost effective just due to the easier maintenance in regards to AV and spyware. Keeping good clone images for the machines does eliminate that factor, though.
Teaching kids with a one-to-one is a dream. Create a web page with links for their assignments, provide your e-mail address for them to send the work, and they're gone until your time is up.
Also, Maine is phasing in their standardized achievement tests to be done on-line, which kids seem to like.
I see what kids are doing with the laptops when I check where they're surfing, so I probably have a different philosophy about it than others.
longjack
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