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Maine School District Gives iPad To Every Kindergartner

Posted by Soulskill on from the america's-angry-birds-scores-will-lead-the-world dept.

An anonymous reader writes "'An Auburn, ME school district spent more than $200,000 to outfit every one of its 250 kindergartners with [iPads], along with sturdy cases to protect them. School officials say they are the first public school district in the country to give every kindergartner an iPad. Mrs. McCarthy says the tools give her 19 students more immediate feedback and individual attention than she ever could.' Will this improve low test scores, or be another case where spending more money does not produce a better educational outcome?"

2 of 478 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Did we not already go through this? by node+3 · · Score: 1, Troll

    Those were PCs, these are iPads.

    Completely different.

    FTFY

    The methods for operating and interacting with a PC don't fit very well in a standard teaching environment. The screens block the students' views, and the keyboard and mouse add a layer of abstraction between the student and the lesson.

    The iPad, on the other hand, is essentially an infinitely reconfigurable, highly adaptable, directly manipulable slate. There's a large amount of potential here, all without many of the hurdles PCs bring to the equation.

    Only time will tell, but you're right, in terms of classroom utility, iPads are completely different.

  2. Re:Wasted money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Hush. If the children will not work to earn the money to pay for their education... why should the rest of us pay? Parasites.

    Now excuse me... I've got to go wank off to Atlas Shrugged again.