What is Digg?57 Comments
- flag564, on 10/12/2007, -8/+39"turn school buses into classrooms?"
Well if you can turn trailers into homes.... - eggo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30Is that the state motto?
- elsalgo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Gee, I think I'd take that Arkansan education than to the one you received... Douche.
- Hoovooloo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18For the record, in Massachusetts you don't even need counseling to marry your 1st cousin- far less stringent standards than in Arkansas
This coming from an otherwise proud Mass-hole. - broiledmeat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Although it would be nice for the kids, it isn't financially viable to build and staff public schools where only twenty students will be attending.
- cirelo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I live in Arkansas, it's not so bad.
- tony134340, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Here comes the "you live over this line so you're automatically dumb" comments. Oh, the irony.
Someone setup a donation so this guy can have a travel fund to lessen his ignorance. - alceria, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17"....'high ability' students will use laptop computers to connect to the Internet and interact with web-based learning programs."
Sorry short-bus kids, you're too dumb for the internets. You get an old etch-a-sketch and the seats with the stuck windows. - Evildudetx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17I see this as a complete waste of money. No kids are going to study on a bus......
Do the obvious - build a school a bit closer to where these kids live. - musicphreke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I'm from Arkansas. I believe that the reason for such a long bus ride is the recent school consolidations that have occurred throughout the state.
- bergur1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Am I the only one who did homework on the bus so that it wouldn't be late?!
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10If you had actually RTFA instead of commenting straight out of your ass, you'd understand that the purpose of this is to make good use of the three hour ride that these kids have to do anyway, going between their homes and the school.
It's actually a really good idea for people in extreme rural communities. Although I disagree with their particular implementation of it, it's still a good idea to make use of that otherwise wasted time. - segphault, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Michigan Representative Matthew Gillard held up an ipod at the press conference when announcing the technology initiative and literally said that he wanted every student in Michigan to have one. He distanced himself from those remarks after journalists and lawmakers criticized the idea.
- Rice, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9If I had an iPod, I'd totally be taking out some podcasts on the bus.
Democracy Now! for the news.
Grammar Girl for the writing.
TWiT Netcasts for the tech.
I don't watch TV anymore. Anyone else? - JonDee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5What does that even mean?!? I guess I just don't get the joke. I'm from Sheridan and I went to Sheridan High School, and the "African-Americans" sit wherever they want. But I think you mean black people instead of African-Americans (and they sit wherever they want too). I seriously doubt that all black people were born in Africa, it's a horribly broad generalization that needs to end.
- drmistermaster, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9You make fun of stupid people yet you can't spell for *****?
- CheezeMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5that had better be a joke (and not a very good one at that)... otherwise... wow RTFA
- triont, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I watch Lost on the internet, does that count?
- BlueDjinn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8For the last (I hope) friggin' time:
THERE
NEVER
WAS
ANY
IPOD
PROPOSAL
IN
MICHIGAN.
http://www.d4md.org/civicspace/?q=node/1653
http://www.d4md.org/civicspace/?q=node/1654
http://www.d4md.org/civicspace/?q=node/1655
Amazing how complete bullsh*t can sink irreversibly into the public consciousness. - leftymgp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@eggo
Pretty much...
When I tell people here (DC) that I grew up in Arkansas, they immediately respond with something to the effect of, "Oh, I'm sorry". Most of the time, they know the state only from the usual stereotypes. If I'm feeling energetic, I'll explain to them how my hometown is constantly ranked as one of the nicest places to live nationally. But most of the time I'll just repeat the state motto. :)
And to weigh in on the article... What ever happened to reading a book? You can't trick kids into studying with shiny ipods and laptops. Kids can smell educational software from miles away. This reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Bart was playing a video game where you destroyed state capitals. Then, after realizing that he was learning the state capitals, he immediately quit playing.
Why don't they just put a TV on the bus and play episodes of Mr. Wizard? That sounds much cheaper and just as effective. - Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ms. Frizzle was hot-... er, I mean, a great educator.
- BlueDjinn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Actually, I can easily see how iPods (or any other digital audio recorder/player) could be utilized for education--language lessons, lectures, audiobooks, etc. Many museums have started using iPods for the guided tours, and so on. Remember, despite the "expensive Walkman" image, all an iPod really is is a device for storing information (primarily in audio form). It doesn't have to be music, it can be anything.
The key is to make sure that you think the program through; don't just toss expensive gadgets at the kids and say "go learn!". You have to carefully think about what exactly it is you want the kids to get out of the program, you have to train the teachers, administrators and parents in the curriculum, and so on. Same thing holds true with the 1-to-1 laptop programs (like the one that's been used in Maine the past few years). If you do it right, it can be extremely successful; if you just toss laptops at the kids, it's gonna be an expensive failure.
Apple has a whole section on how to use the iPod in education (yeah, I know, it's obviously heavily biased, but still worth a look):
http://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/ - Comatose51, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Teach them war-driving! Go off on a tangent about radio transmission and network security. A mobile classroom sounds like a fantastic idea actually given our current technology level.
- SuperCujo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Idiot...
Go do some reading.
Here is a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States
The blacks had their own area on the bus, being right up the back. They also had their own areas in lots of other places too. Just so the whites didn't have to mix with them. - symmation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Note - the initiative's administrators are also establishing a local one-room schoolhouse where a teacher will be physically present. Video-conferencing will also be made available to allow the students to work with (Vanderbilt) University professors and mentors.
A curriculum is being established as well as metrics to measure the impact of this program on the students' education. - iamjames, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2so they're just going to hand ipods and laptops to kids and say "study"? Here's a better idea: put a teacher on the bus... wait, why use a bus at all? Couldn't the put a mobile home out there somewhere and have one teacher on staff? Mobile home is less than 30 grand and land is dirt cheap in rural areas, unless each kid lives 30 minutes from the next, then it wouldn't work.
Although I agree a 3-hour bus ride is bs, I just don't understand how a laptop and ipod is any better than just having a book and a teacher.
But at least they're only trying this on one bus not the entire state. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out at the end of the 3 years. - musicphreke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1How would you waste time on the Internet on the bus?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Something I would expect to see in an 80s mad max movie but not in the most powerful nation in the world.
..oh wait... - qwertydvorak, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7i was gonna go with: well, if the houses have wheels, the schools can too.
- ffejrey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah, can't spell for *****...missed one letter...
- ij00mini, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Did no one else think of the Magic School Bus?
Let's hope these shrink to a microscopic size, too. That's where all the real learning is to be had. - rubah, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Who's going to pay for it? Where are you going to get teachers? What would the kids think?
Just four years ago, whispers of "consolidation" were freaking the students and many faculty out here in AR. Very few schools were actually consolidated, but the need in Arkansas is for fewer schools. In class today, my Physics teacher was talking about how few teachers come to Arkansas because there isn't enough money to pay them; he cited a school that was looking for one person to teach physics, chem, physical science, and 7th grade life science.
Schools where many kids drive over an hour to get there isn't uncommon. The population distribution in Arkansas is very erratic. You have dense areas along the Arkansas River, where I live, but if you head north into the Ozarks, you'll find towns with populations in the 100s, where a school just could not be sustained by anything.
It's pretty much a catch-22. Our schools already built are crowded (mine has added two trailer buildings that we all make fun of to hold classes in. After a junior high was built, they aren't as necessary, but since my school doesn't completely suck (low wages, but at least they got more of a raise than many places) there are a lot of people who come here despite closer schools because it isn't as degenerate, smaller, the teachers care etc. It's kinda a scholastic haven. But outside of a small sphere of population, schools get scarce. In Arkansas history, I think we learned that Arkansas had over 400 schools sometime around the turn of the 20th century? Just because the population is so spread out so thin.
There isn't enough people to support another school district, nor the money to maintain it anyways. At the very least, it'll keep the kids occupied for so long in their days! - Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1In other news, parents all throughout rural Arkansas are confused and angered as there has been a huge rise in motion sickness throughout the young population. More from Billy-Bob Joe in a moment.
- MattFaber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I used to love that show.
- SuperCujo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5And it makes drive-by school shootings much easier...
Wait... is it still too soon? - theonesteve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Why not use the money that's going for iPods and laptops toward something less prone to obsolescense? Someone already suggested putting a teacher on board, and someone else mentioned a mini-schoolhouse idea with cheap mobile homes.
Also, I don't know about the rest of you, but I wouldn't want to do schoolwork for three hours on the bus, sit in school all day, and do more schoolwork on the three-hour trip back home. That wouldn't leave any time for wasting on the Internet. - Clark1984, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0I've been a big fan of Apple since elementary school, but how are iPods going to teach kids anything? As much as I love computers and gadgets I think they need to stay out of the classroom. We should cut tech budgets in half and pay the teachers a bit more. Books and a good teacher is going to teach kids way more than flashy programs and the internet access. Computers were such as distraction throughout my college career. This is obviously in the classroom and not when I was doing research or writing a paper.
- BlueDjinn, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Segphault--
Yes, he did indeed hold it up as an example of new tools for technology in education, and yes he did say it'd be great if every kid in Michigan had one.
HOWEVER, as far as I know, no one, including Gillard, EVER said, "we are proposing spending $38 million to buy iPods for every public school student in Michigan", nor was anything of that nature in the actual budget proposal put forth.
Saying that you'd LIKE something to happen is hardly the same thing as actually putting the idea into a formal proposal, and the "journalists" should have damned well known the difference.
Gillard was foolish for IMPLYING that such a proposal existed, but the Detroit Free Press in general, and Dawson Bell in particular, were spectacularly unprofessional and lazy for not actually confirming that such a proposal in fact existed before publishing it as fact.
All he would have had to do is raise his hand after Gillard waved the iPod around and said, "Excuse me, Rep. Gillard, but are you seriously proposing that $38 million be spent on iPods for every kid in the state?", at which point Gillard would presumably have clarified the issue.
I'm not defending Gillard's actions, I'm criticizing the Free Press' lack of professionalism in reporting an *assumption* as *fact* without bothering to take 30 seconds to confirm it. Hell, it would've taken less than 30 seconds to divide $38 million by 1.65 million (Michigan public school students) to realize that this would've meant getting iPods for $23 apiece!! Apple gives large discounts for bulk educational orders, of course, but a 70-85% discount on the hottest-selling consumer product in the world today? That alone should've been enough to raise a big red flag. - poornbroken, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2what i'm really surprised about is where they got the money to fund this.
- dbhaley, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3If you think that is a waste of money, wait until you're building a school every 100 miles.
- triont, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1I agree with you. There are some freaks here that do marry their cousins, but not everyone is sick like that. My girlfriend tells me that it's much worse in Tennessee than it is here.
- xSEED, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1it's in the south, nuff said
- WillHutch5, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Move the ***** out of the boonies then.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Everyone give up for tonight. Eggo has won the comment wars at least for tonight.
- ssmith2k3, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1They could also read textbooks instead. In either case, there would probably not be very much learning happening. If they had enough concentration and diligence to study in a school bus they would probably be math Olympics competitors by now.
- trogdor282, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Comment abuse but someone has to say it. This idea = HELLO MOTION SICKNESS!
- goodbeershow, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Do the African-American kids now have to sit in back of their classroom?
- MrWhipplemen, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3ouch!
...to someone - jpn1003, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1This article really needs pictures to earn a digg.
- Shaman760, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0All those vehicles up on concrete blocks...gotta do something with 'em.....
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