I thought that maybe this time around we could do away with most of the gadgets that come with children. We already worked through the trials of finding a stroller (my workhorse!), and we have no need for a carseat (for which I am forever grateful). But with a house that is spread out over three floors we’ve conceded to the need for a baby monitor. So we find ourselves once again digging through descriptions of batteries, static, and sudden kaputing of electronics. I was naively hopeful that phone, laptop, and printer would be the only electronics of our home (I know, I know, they’re plenty awful even on their own).
On the other side of things, I was just reading an article on school districts’ blossoming fascination with the iPad. Apparently they’re buying them (at roughly $750 a pop) by the dozens to give to schoolchildren and teachers. Here’s hoping that that craze is over by the time Katherine gets to school, or my husband may just get his homeschool-inclining way.
Erin
Alan Schmierer
Is the idea that its cheaper to purchase books for the students? If publishers were willing to loan out literature and textbooks on e-books to students, maybe it would be able to provide greater variety in schools. So far, the books look more expensive to me, unfortunately. The other benefit I’ve heard is that readers can increase text size for visually-impaired readers whose libraries don’t have the funds to purchase a lot of large text books.
I guess I could see some possible upsides, but they make my eyes tired, and I stare at computer screens enough as it is…
The moment I have eyesight trouble I’m getting one, for sure, but these are mostly used in non-special needs classrooms. If they were just trying to keep up with textbooks, I might have less of a problem with them (though I wonder how long these things will last . . .). But a lot of the principals have been touting them as ways to engage the students with “interactive learning.” You know, math puzzles, touching the screen to turn pages, hopping on the internet “to check out references.” The same stuff we’ve been hearing since computers came out, and also without studies backing them up. I notice they also didn’t buy non-brand-name devices that do similar things: they’re really going for the “coolness” factor with kids. And then I think that the kids with money will be over these things in about ten minutes, as soon as there’s something new out. But maybe I’m being too cynical?
Erin
I’ve always wondered if all that stuff just further reduces attention spans.
My brother works in a school that has a laptop for every student. He has to consciously work to come up with ways to integrate laptops, because he’s supposed to use them every once and awhile in the classroom. However, they don’t really add to his lessons all that much.