Fixing our broken school system with iSchools? I’m not so sure about that one. If we were to give every student this expensive technology what would the guarantee be that the students wouldn’t damage or break them? To replaces these frequently might not be financially possible. Another issue with iSchools would be providing technicians to fix problems with the itouches. If the internet crashes or the battery fails, this puts a wrench in the whole school day. This is more time our students are not learning, which is what we are trying to fix. I feel that actually writing notes and homework helps you remember it more than simply typing it or reading over it. I like to be able to hold a book in my hands and turn the pages, not scroll down on a screen to get to the next page. I feel like students are missing out if we put all their resources in one piece of technology. This limits the students’ imagination. They should not be forced to use the itouch. All the money the schools would save on paper they would make up for in maintenance fees and buying new itouches. All in all, I’m not a fan.
I completely agree that moving to a totally paperless school environment such as the iSchool is neither feasible nor wise at this point in time, but I am surprised you did not note any of the positives of the iSchool. Students today are much more eager to learn using digital means than through lectures and worksheets, and the iTouch would bring easy access to a myriad of kinesthetic learning options that would benefit students who do not learn as well by other means.
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