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.
I mean the County will be the defendant.
I thought from your previous posts you were in favor of these programs. I guess I misunderstood. Is there anyone other than deal makers who think this is a good idea?
How come no PC maker is making 12" laptops these days expect for ultra light ones? At a quick glance Apple has done the same..... long after PC makers did. Apple has a ultra light 12 incher.
14" is the proper size for a small laptop these days. For kids 12" is OK. But for an adult? Your answer is in what's for sale today, where the only 12 inchers are ultra lights
Al Gore?
This is Newt Gingrich's former district. My wife teaches in this system. We've got a high-schooler and a 4th grader in the schools here. This is going to be one big cluster- #$%^. They're building schools as fast as they can and still have kids in trailers at almost every site. This is God's way of telling the Cobb County School Board that they have too much money to spend.
How could they possibly have too much money to spend if they have trailers everywhere? This is insane. All they have to do is look at the Atlanta system which wasted about 60 million on computer crap which sits in warehouses while the investigations and lawsuits fly. Incompetance flourishes.
Apple is going to make a killing with this fad because all of those worms and viri out there prey on Windows. Of all the issues created by students having these 12" Macs, their laptops are not being laden with such trash. I can't imagine how it would be if they had Windows laptops. [Having said that, and having one of those 12" laptops myself, I still wouldn't by a Mac.]
I mispoke. You're right. It's God way of telling them they don't have a clue.
You would think the AJC could make such a simple calculation.
heh. I'm not familiar with it either. I just thought it humorous that the heart of the matter, that you tried to bring out, was sidetracked by someone touting the merits of something called keynote. Learning a software package will only get one so far, learning math and associated logic, English, etc. is the foundation of an education.
Then they wull have to pay another $50 million for upgrades.
Once they can answer yes to all of the above then start talking about technology.
Fractions... No one even thinks that way any more. Decimals and Metric are for people who lack cognition.......
They changed wallstreet because the nation just could not grasp that XYZ was up 11/32 in light trading. Sigh.......
Can you imagine this nation if, God forbid, an EMP attack wiped out the computers ?
We'd be dead as no one could cipher anything.
Function where? Hollywood?
If you want these kids to learn any marketable skills in the real world, get them onto a Windows platform and teach them how a network funstions, how a LAN functions in the real world, how email functions via Exchange...you know...things they'll actually need to know other than how to get all their favorite music and how to make pretty videos on their Apple laptops.
This Atlanta/Cobb investment may be hugely wrongheaded--but I'm interested in it now that they've gone and done it...
Wrong--this is part of the support they are getting included in the total contract.
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.?
You obviously have no experience with a Mac--these computers are inherently resisant to all that stuff. I have not had an antivirus or popup stopper on my Mac for the past 10 years and have never have even one of these problems.
Powerpoint? The kids are going to learn Powerpoint. This is so post-modern. It's about teaching the kids STYLE and appearance and perception
Have you ever worked at a professional job in the past 10 years? Right now, today, mastery of Powerpoint is one of the unspoken requirements for advancement. I have not even seen a transparency used in a presentation in the past 5 years. Why would you deny the kids the opportunity to learn a real busuness skill? At first, PowerPoint seems flashy and able to disguise lack of content with fluff, but after a year or so of experience, the audience knows how to tune this out. If someone doesn't have something valuable to say, it becomes apparant quickly.
I work in technology & engineering--drawing intricate graphs on a chalkboard is just not practical. With PowerPoint I can present real pictures and real data.
I'd like an apple-top and a pony-lap.
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