iPads set to replace school textbooks in Georgia state?
updated 03:55 am EST, Sun February 6, 2011
Offers student engagement,
Georgia state legislators and educators are considering a proposal by Apple to move from printed textbooks to iPads, according to a report. “Last week we met with Apple, and…for $500 per child per year, they will furnish every child with an iPad, wi-fi the system, provide all the books on the system, all the upgrades, all the teacher training – and the results they’re getting from these kids is phenomenal,” said Republican Senate President pro tem Tommie Williams.
From a monetary perspective, the move could well make sense. According Williams, "We’re currently spending about $40 million a year on books. And they last about seven years. We have books that don’t even have 9/11. This is the way kids are learning, and we need to be willing to move in that direction.”
The news follows a New York Times report that highlighted a successful pilot program at Roslyn High School on Long Island. From starting with 47 iPads, the school plans to expand the program to all its 1,100 students. They have found that the iPad engages students and has positively altered the teaching landscape. "[The iPad] allows students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios,” said Larry Reiff, an English teacher at Roslyn who has moved to online delivery for all lesson content. “It allows us to extend the classroom beyond these four walls.”
There are around 5,400 education apps for the iPad available from the iTunes App Store. Further, the iTunes store also offers thousands of iTunes U free lectures and content from top tertiary institutions including Yale, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge among many others. [via Appleinsider]
via macnn.com