Michigan has a new legislative proposal on the table to purchase an iPod or other MP3 player for every student (not surprisingly probably influenced by Apple).
Interesting, but wouldn’t a handheld that could play music and video podcasts, as well as act as a word processor, assessment tool, ebook reader, study tool, and web browser be a better use of the funds? It probably doesn’t matter, since this proposal is unlikely to be funded, given Michigan’s current budget situation.
In my opinion, the money spent on hardware like this is wasted if an equal amount is not spent on curriculum and professional development. Projects that start with “a _____ [insert device of your choice] for every kid” instead of “every kid learning _____ [insert skill of your choice]” are doomed to fail. We’ve been down that road too many times already.