<p>TTL–my thought, too.</p>
<p>And Mattmom–yes!!!</p>
<p>Mattmom, Right on!</p>
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<p>Most stories about spending in education sound unreal. But the bills and the tax increases do not come out on April 1st.</p>
<p>I think the iPad sales person has made a great commission.</p>
<p>Gee, when we did college visits with our S and them my D, I kept thinking, wow, I’d love to go back to college, now I’d really appreciate it. Now I wanna be in Kindergarten! Where’s my I-pad? ;)</p>
<p>A couple comments…</p>
<p>First, if someone can explain how I can efficiently check books out on my iPad, I’d really appreciate it. I know how I can buy books, but easily checking books out from the library is a whole different matter. (in other words, I don’t think they’ll replace libraries in the next five years).</p>
<p>Also, I think teachers are paid well and schools are well funded. Taxpayers pay $227,000 a year per classroom in my state, and I think most of us parents could teach 25 kids for 9 months very well if given a $227,000 budget to do the job. (Of course, half of that money never reaches the classroom but that’s a different thread). Teachers are paid $46,000 plus about $20,000 in benefits each year on average - which I think is a fair and reasonable salary for teachers.</p>
<p>And I thought putting Smartboards in every classroom was the biggest techno-fad waste of money. I guess I was wrong.</p>
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<p>Wow. Could you support your family on that salary??</p>
<p>I don’t know if or how i-pads enhance learning for a typical kindergartner, but for some of our children (mostly ASD) use of computer technology (a trend that started over two decades ago) has been life-changing. The i-pad is thousands cheaper than typical augmentative devices available for non-verbal autistic students, and also more convenient in many situations than laptops for mainstreamed students. </p>
<p>Many students with a variety of LD’s would seem to benefit from more than the usual few supervised hours of computer use each week. When computers were first introduced into schools over two decades ago, they were more expensive than now, and even when they were used in the classroom, the students who seemed to benefit the most were those who also had home access. </p>
<p>Moreover, families of children on the severe end of the spectrum who could never have afforded traditional augmentative devices are now purchasing i-pads for their autistic children, and many parents (with lots of knowledge and experience in autism acquired through day to day living and a clear idea of what is needed and would be useful) are developing their own apps. I imagine that on the high end of the spectrum, AS youngsters even as young as early elementary school are also learning to write apps.</p>
<p>Agree that free access to Internet sites could be problematic,and I would hope that this is being controlled, but I would argue that social skills and confidence can only improve if students mocked by peers as “■■■■■■■” (usually NOT those who consistently score in the MR range on tests, BTW) have a way of showing others what they know and can do.</p>
<p>If the i-pad can save tens of thousands of special education expenses per classroom, it seems to me to be a good investment in any case. I would keep in mind also that there is often a very thin line between those who would qualify for special services, and those who could benefit greatly but for some reason or other are left to muddle along.</p>
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<p>I think that many people do support their family on $46,000 a year.</p>
<p>The superintendent pointed out they could use “fingerpainting apps” on them.</p>
<p>I think that this may be listed somewhere as one of the first signs of the apocalypse.</p>
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<p>This will remain one of the most vexing issues for the next 20-30 years as changes in the expectations and compensation o f teachers are re-evaluated. At the time when the unions were allowed to place a chokehold on the sector, the majority of teachers were not the primary breadwinners. With the reduced possibilities for women to enter the workforce (not to mention childbearing and childraising issues) teaching in the lower levels of K-12 became one of the most attractive options for many educated women. Lower salaries were more acceptable for a secondary wage earner who could still benefit from extended time off that matched the fanily dynamics. </p>
<p>Over the years the viable proposals of the 50s to the 80s have been transformed via aggressive bargaining by the unions and rubber-stamping and complacent school boards. Periods of financial austerity were quickly replaced by boom days, and the theory that unending growth on salaries were acceptable. Since the bulk of the funding came from property taxes, the inflation in real estate values made the pain sufferable. This is, however, no longer the case.</p>
<p>The model of relying on professionals that accept lower salaries in exchange of benefits not available in the private sector. The model for the future has to include abandoning the
easier access to the teaching professions that has been fueled by mediocre schools producing generalists culled from the least selective college graduates. This could be accomplished with a renewed focus on specialists who have degrees in specific fields, especially in math, sciences, and advanced English. To attract such specialists, wages WILL have to be adjusted upwards for those … specialists, with the caveat that the professional requirements include a year-long commitment much different from the “agrarian” model that creates extended vacations. </p>
<p>Fwiw, those changes will not be possible until a full cycle of new professionals come in. In so many words, it will have to get worse before it gets better. as it will take time to eradicate the nefarious impact of the last 50 years. The “not a day too early” will have to wait for a long time, but it will happen. </p>
<p>This is not a sector that responds well to retroactive measures and necessary changes.</p>
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<p>Well, you can ask if there is anything that can be done efficiently on the iPad, with the notable exception of … wasting time, which the iPad is amazingly efficient at. On that basis, it is quite obvious why this fad has become popular. </p>
<p>Is there any teacher (or student) who would not love to have one to “play” with and take home “to check it out.” Since those things are almost impossible to use for productive endeavors, the appeal is irresistible. And, in the end, the jump to unproven technologuy will provide another perfect excuse to explain the failures of the “system.”</p>
<p>It will interesting to see how schools moigrate from decades of efforts to reduce the access of students to the “outside world” to adopting tools that rely on such access. Will security guards confiscate the smartphones and issue an iPad instead? What a sight! :)</p>
<p>Are you ****ing kidding me -____-</p>
<p>This seems like a terrible idea to me. Maybe it’s just because I went to a Montessori kindergarten, but I mostly remember building things with Legos and playing in the woods. Not sure how an iPad would improve the experience.
What does this have to do with technology? If anything, e-readers and laptops solve for this because old ebooks don’t get worn.</p>
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<p>Why would you need that if you can have digital lego blocks on the screen and watch a movie about woods and trees on the little marvel? And when kids get tired to actually have to click on the iPad, it will be time to watch an exercise video on on the big screen TV --all under the watchful eye of a supervisor.</p>
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<p>That’s the beauty of not being able to use Flash.</p>
<p>But seriously, it’s probably not that difficult to put up firewalls on an iPad that a 5 year old couldn’t get past.</p>
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<p>The big argument for iPads or other electronic readers is that new editions of textbooks can be loaded on them every year so students are always learning new material rather than out of date material.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that the rules of algebra don’t change every year, only the teaching style changes. And the style changes at least in part to sell more books. And that strategy will continue whether on books or electronic readers.</p>
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<p>The iPad is not like a windows computer. It’s virtually impossible to install firewalls on them because you can only install authorized apps through the Apple store. I don’t believe they sell firewalls. (But I haven’t checked, so who knows).</p>
<p>[Let</a> me google that for you](<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You)</p>