“The scene inside Tammi Benson’s sixth-grade classroom in Schaumburg last week looked more like Christmas than the second week of school,” Chris Fusco reports for The Chicago Sun-Times. “‘I thought iBooks were just regular books, but then Mrs. Benson showed us–it’s a laptop,’ said 11-year-old Craig Hartwig, his face glowing as brightly as the sleek Apple computer in front of him. ‘Hopefully, I’ll be able to do my homework on it.’”

“Yes, Craig, you will. And so will thousands of other kids in your school district in what’s believed to be the largest laptop distribution program ever in Illinois,” writes Fusco. “By fall 2004, each fourth- through sixth-grader in northwest suburban School District 54 will get an Apple iBook to use both in school and at home–about 5,200 computers total.”

“The aim is to introduce students to laptops as early as they can grasp the technology, and steer them toward nonfiction via the Internet when those age groups typically shy from that type of reading,” Fusco reports. “District 54′s iBook program is modeled partly after one in Henrico County, Va., where 44,000 elementary, middle- and high-school students are using the machines. High school students there last year recorded their highest SAT verbal and math scores ever. The Schaumburg-area iBook program is kicking off this month with 1,735 laptops going to seven schools. Another 1,735 will be distributed in spring, with 1,735 more going to students in fall 2004.”

Full article here.