“Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens said Wednesday he would like to see the county’s school board back away from its plan to provide students and teachers with laptops because the issue has gotten so emotional,” Mike Morris reports for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“‘The personal attacks by both the school board members, some of the press and the public have gotten way too high,’ said Olens, who sent a letter to the editor of a local newspaper Tuesday, opposing the proposal to provide laptops to all county teachers and middle and high school students,” Morris reports.
“‘The flame has gotten so high that we’re forgetting about the kid,’ said Olens, a lawyer. ‘I’d rather everyone lower the flame, delay any talk about a pilot program, give the teachers laptops and repair and upgrade existing technology in all the schools — elementary, middle and high — and extend the discussions on a potential pilot program. Whether that means six months, or whether that means a year, that’s irrelevant. It’s too big an issue to have all this emotion involved,’ he said. Last week, the school board voted 4-2 to approve the first phase of a $70 million, four-year program that could eventually distribute 63,000 Apple iBooks to public school teachers and all students in grades 6-12 in the county school system. Phase 1 of the program would provide more than 7,100 Cobb teachers with the laptops, as well as equipping four high schools as demonstration sites and upgrading middle school computer labs,” Morris reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Okay, so no laptops at all. Delay technology to the kids for 6 months or a year instead because the county’s school board is “too emotional.” That’s supposed to be keeping the kids’ best interests at heart? Teach the kids that if there’s ever any “controversy” and some people happen to get “emotional,” it’s best to delay any decision. What a joke.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
No conflict of interest in ongoing Cobb County Apple iBook saga – April 19, 2005
More controversy in Atlanta-area school district’s plan to buy Apple iBooks – April 16, 2005
Cobb County Georgia approves first phase of plan that could equip schools with 63,000 Apple iBooks – April 15, 2005
Atlanta-area school district on verge of deal for 31,000 Apple iBooks – April 12, 2005
Cobb teachers voice concerns over using Macs for proposed laptop program – March 29, 2005
Cobb County Georgia meeting discusses plan to equip schools with 63,000 Apple iBooks – February 24, 2005
Report: 90 percent of emails opposed to Georgia’s Apple iBook program – February 10, 2005
65,000 Apple iBooks for Georgia schools one of the largest school laptop programs in the country – February 10, 2005
Georgia school district to propose 63,000 Macs for students and teachers – February 07, 2005
Frankly, the kids no NEED computers to learn. But if they do want to use them, they should be from Apple, I guess.
That is unless we want to teach them frustration tolerance, non-stop problem solving, that mediocrity is the norm, and that no matter how hard you try, you’ll likely lose your work in a flurry of unforeseen mishaps.
Maybe they do need Windows to learn.
Once again, people put their pocket book in front of their children’s education. Computers are what they will be using in the future for pretty much anything they want to do. So they need to learn how to use one as soon as possible. The only fight I think we should see is if they are going to be PC or Mac. And after looking both over, you would have to be nuts to choose the PC. That is with all the problems (lack of security, viruses and spyware) and lack of creative software by default, while the Mac has it all right out of the box.
MDN’s take is right on. A few adults get “emotional,” so this character proposes that the teachers (adults) should still get their laptops, but that they should put off giving the computers to the kids, even for a “pilot.” If his position was based on his view that this is not the best educational investment for the students, it would at least be something to respect. Instead it’s all based on the feelings of the adults, and his “solution” won’t interfere with the adults getting theirs. Well, f**k the school system adults and their fainting spells; someone in Cobb needs to remember that the whole point of public education is to serve the students, or at least it should be. Maybe it’s time for vouchers…
I wonder if it would be just as emotional if the laptops were coming from Dell?
I think Triumph put it best in the other Cobb County thread. It is a must read for anyone who loves Macs.
By the way, don’t you think he has a hot a$$?
Kids need good teachers and administrators who care. Computers are secondary if you aren’t learning a damn think because your teacher is a twit. Computers can only help those who can concentrate on using them.
I’ve yet to hear about a properly integrated computer program. Our country’s education system is too screwed up to allow the administrators and educators the time to build a proper system. By the time they did, if they could, the technology would have evolved and they’d have to design a new program.
Our education system is a total wreck. I think throwing computers at it only ads to the confusion for most people. Sure some kids could benefit. Theoretically it could pull some kids out of the gutter. That’s great, but I’d rather see more energy and money spent on basic education problems than “fine tuning” with computers.
Computers have a place. Perhaps more place in some schools than others, but in my experience school is lacking so much substance that adding a computer would only be another happy distraction and would not improve education at all.
We need to teach our kids. Who cares who said what to some guy 300 years ago if I can hardly read anyway. Math? I got stabbed 7 times on the way to school today and hit 3 times with a lead pipe. That, let’s see, 11 critical injuries. Too many kids have no grasp of their future because they are just trying to survive in the now. Computers are just something else to get stolen or beat up for.
For the rich white kids who don’t have to worry about these things, that’s great. It’s be nice if those communities could give a little to the rest of the others. We have an unequal system where, thanks to “no child left behind” the school systems that were struggling the most are sturggling more. Thank you.
Let’s work for each other instead of competing. Open source the schools. Equal funding for all students. The government should pay for teacher education mandated by No Child Left Behind. Teachers getting certified should be able to keep their jobs during certification.
I could go on. Computers? That’s an emotional issue. Are you getting it now?
But if you want Children to learn more about the real world, what better way than forcing them to use a PC.
They can be flooded with Internet Porn popup ads, spyware, and malware. They can learn firsthand how dirty the world can be.
Also, children can have their identities stolen and have a credit history before they even go to college.
With great role models like Brittney and Paris, why ruin society’s decline and stagnation by intorducing them to a mac?
I agree with MDN — this is the classic “wait and see” attitude that completely misses the fact that NOT making a decision is still making a decision. At least there’s a go-ahead on equipment for the teachers. Test the waters.
Why thank you, Spelunking Troglodyte.
I will lick your balls, right after I POOP on you!!!
Yeh-heh-heh-hessssss!
Computers are only tools to teach the kids. If the teachers do not know how to use them or if the kids don’t care, how will the children learn?
Parents cannot simply sit back and blame the system, society, mac vs PC. They need to get involved in their child’s care. Parent’s can help get children interested in learning. And we need qualified teachers who can nuture and educate each child. It is EVERYONE’s responsibility otherwise more children will be left further behind.
If we look at how smart the average person is, you need to realize that for that person to be average, half of the population needs to be dumber than he is.
How laptops can help the school system.
–
Marine Bio…
…teachers don’t have to check out the AV gear from the library so that they can use up 1 week of instructional time by playing “Jaws” as a lesson.
–
Math…
… teachers can simply input functions and show their students how to use to use the laptop as a cool color calculator, rather than teach them how to calculate themselves.
–
English…
…who needs to know how to spell, write, phrase, legally quote, or do any communication, when a laptop takes care most of those thing for you.
“Do U rilly need two no how 2 right prawperlee wen the camputer can dew it 4 u???”
–
Sick days…
…who needs an educated substitute teacher? The school system can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by hiring babysitters to sit up front to make sure no one smokes, skips, vandalizes, etc. They have computers, what else do they need?
—
MDN (and sheep), today is 4/20… maybe this should be the day you lay off the pipe. You’ve been smokin’ something all year.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
How laptops can help the school system.
–
Marine Bio…
…teachers don’t have to check out the AV gear from the library so that they can use up 1 week of instructional time by playing “Jaws” as a lesson.
–
Math…
… teachers can simply input functions and show their students how to use to use the laptop as a cool color calculator, rather than teach them how to calculate themselves.
–
English…
…who needs to know how to spell, write, phrase, legally quote, or do any communication, when a laptop takes care most of those thing for you.
“Do U rilly need two no how 2 right prawperlee wen the camputer can dew it 4 u???”
–
Sick days…
…who needs an educated substitute teacher? The school system can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by hiring babysitters to sit up front to make sure no one smokes, skips, vandalizes, etc. They have computers, what else do they need?
—
MDN (and sheep), today is 4/20… maybe this should be the day you lay off the pipe. You’ve been smokin’ something all year.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
How laptops can help the school system.
–
Marine Bio…
…teachers don’t have to check out the AV gear from the library so that they can use up 1 week of instructional time by playing “Jaws” as a lesson.
–
Math…
… teachers can simply input functions and show their students how to use to use the laptop as a cool color calculator, rather than teach them how to calculate themselves.
–
English…
…who needs to know how to spell, write, phrase, legally quote, or do any communication, when a laptop takes care most of those thing for you.
“Do U rilly need two no how 2 right prawperlee wen the camputer can dew it 4 u???”
–
Sick days…
…who needs an educated substitute teacher? The school system can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by hiring babysitters to sit up front to make sure no one smokes, skips, vandalizes, etc. They have computers, what else do they need?
—
MDN (and sheep), today is 4/20… maybe this should be the day you lay off the pipe. You’ve been smokin’ something all year.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Wow, M & P Guy. That was well put and to the point. Great post.
I f***ing hate the education system in this country, no one understands the value of things like the iBook programs.
…and then it was like all “beep beep beep beep beep” and my paper was gone. It was a really good paper.
As great of a deal as this would be for Apple, and as nice as it would be for students and teachers to have their own laptops, it just seems that $70 million is a lot to spend. I think there are other more important educational needs that could be addressed with $70 million.
Schools have computer labs, so it’s not like students need to have a personal laptop in order to get school work done, and the school is not postponing technology. And how many of the teachers are going to use a new laptop? I’m willing to bet that most teachers have their own computers that are probably good enough to get whatever they need done.
And if I recall my school days correctly, most of my classes like English and Math didn’t require a computer. Sure, you can incorporate a computer into the curriculum, but it’s not going to help a student become better at math. Not to mention, this is more of an expense for parents as well who will probably have to shell out another $50 for insurance on top of all the other school supplies.
This is not just a Mac vs. PC debate. It’s a debate as to how best to educate the children with a limited amount of resources. Why buy a thousand computers when 100 in a computer lab would be just as good? And technology is not the answer to everything, which the school board is right to recognize by delaying this controversial issue.
The simple answer is to pay teachers a LOT more money and remove tenure.
Fire the lazy, incompetent ones and attract the more talented graduates.
Reward success not longevity.
Personally, I couldn’t teach my way out of a wet paper bag but I’ve seen more than my share of incompetent teachers.
MW class LOL
MDN, Apple is an incredible company, no doubt about it. But if you’re promoting the idea that school boards rush into a project because it would promote Apple, you are foolish.
Let them take the time necessary to evaluate the situation and educate the parents and others involved.
If they were buying Windows PCs without researching the possibilities you’d be up in arms!!
Stop your hypocrisy and let them make a well planned, educated and transparent decision on their own.
Put the Kool-Aid down for a minute and have some good old fashioned sugar-free water!
“If they were buying Windows PCs without researching the possibilities you’d be up in arms!!”
Actually, I’d be saying, “it must be Wednesday”. What you describe happens every day, every week, every year, generally because people DON’T research the possibilities when they buy a computer; they just buy what they use at work. And why do they have Winows boxes at work? Because the typical thirty-person IT department (for every 120 computers in a workplace) wouldn’t make themselves largely unnecessary by suggesting a more secure, stable and enjoyable operating system to the CIO. That would be career suicide.
From: Triumph
“Why thank you, Spelunking Troglodyte.
I will lick your balls, right after I POOP on you!!!
Yeh-heh-heh-hessssss!”
I’m glad our school systems will have Macs so that our kids can read this kind of stuff, especially on what a news columnist recently called a “genteel Mac discussion site”. Yep. Money well spent.
I’d rather they learn to read and do long division. The computer is a tool… intelligent and critical thinking is a skill. Give the kids skills first, then tools.
I’m curious about what the plans were for the laptops. What programs would they use? How would they use them? In what context would they supplement the current curriculum? How would the school system prevent abuses (i.e. stolen or broken laptops, inappropriate content, distractions from kids playing Doom 3 in the lunchrooms)? Would the schools have enough system administrators to handle the computer needs of hundreds of students? What if a kid’s laptop flakes out at 10pm when a student is writing a report? Parents likely will hold the schools themselves responsible for software issues, so should the schools be tasked with providing tech support as well as educating our children?
I think the proper course of action is being taken. Consider answers to all the questions necessary for an undertaking such as this, and try it small-scale first. Maybe only 12th graders, maybe kids who are in AP programs… see what the costs, administartion, benefits, etc. are then before shelling out big bucks on what could be a system-wide fiasco. (And no, it’s not a slam on Macs… handing them Dells would ASSUREDLY be a system-wide fiasco.)
The longer they stall, the better chance they all get iBooks with Tiger pre-installed instead of Panther. Trying to see the positive side of this.
Kids can pick up on anything, but it’s the teachers that are stepping out of their comfort zone. With all things on the scale, the iBook is the best solution out there, even if trannsformation problems exist. I say give them with Tiger installed and the differences will be more evident.
Standard qualifications should require teachers to have basic knowledge of both platforms and/or classes that get them up to speed with the ones they will be using. No more complaints, teachers…this is part of the job.
They should give the 70 million back to the people they stole it from and then it will be spent properly.
Hear, hear! Ms. Anthrope. Give the money back to the wage earners so they can buy Hummers, Bud Light, and another big screen teevee. Or some other proper goods.
Aside from the funny sounding acronym, “SPLOST” I didn’t learn enough from the article to know who said what to whom. It’s probably small-time politics mixed with All American Ignorance running amok.