In two weeks, an entire high school of students will be receiving brand new mini ipads to use for the school year. The school has chosen to purchase ipads for the students instead of textbooks. While I can agree that this is the trend of the future, and education technology supports this endeavor, is this really a great idea?
The community has known about this initiative for some time, and there are people on both sides of the fence. The obvious first response is what is going to happen when one of the ipads is lost or stolen. Rest assured, that each ipad is equipped with a tracking device. So, that issue does seem to have been addressed. What happens when the ipad is damaged or irreparable? Some parents are stating they are not going to be responsible for the damages, and others are willing to step up and accept the responsibility to replace the product. But it is unclear as of yet whose responsibility it is to replace said ipad. The biggest concern that I have with this process is the message that we are sending about what our society expects for the standard of living. Wireless internet, or any internet at all for that matter, are not a necessary utility. When we are discussing what priorities are needed to keep a family together, internet service does not come close to the top of the list. By making these ipads the only method of student learning in their homes, we are telling families that they must make internet service their priority. While schools could make copies of text books available for those students without internet service to complete their assignments at home, what student is going to acknowledge that in front of their peer group. That would be similar to acknowledging that they have to get in line for the soup kitchen as well. (Social stigma at its worst) We wouldn't do it as adults, why would be expect our kids to do it.
By now, you are saying to yourself, Sara get over it. These students can go to a relative’s house to use their internet, they can go to the library, or they can go to McDonald's. There is free Wi-Fi everywhere now-a-days. And, my response to you would be, really, and how often do you leave your house to use Wi-Fi when your internet is down. Or do you scream at the computer and disconnect every wire until it comes back on? Those internet services do exist, but most families without internet are also without transportation and without family resources. This is the reality that they are living in. That is the reality that we need to address when we are discussing passing middle class values on poverty stricken individuals and telling them they have to rise to meet a different level of standards that they can't meet. A friend gave me a great analogy today. If I gave every student a box cake mix and told them to go home and make a cake, could everyone do it? NO!!! Because not every student has water, eggs and oil at home. Not every student has a working stove or electricity. And not every student had the access to internet to give them an equal opportunity to learn. Do you want your student to be afforded the same opportunity?
