Apple Pledges $100 Million in Equipment to President Obama's ConnectED Initiative for Schools

The earlier that kids start using the Internet, the earlier the NSA can record everything they do.

Wake up, sheeple :D

There's enough threads about the NSA in this forum. Let's please try to keep this one somewhat related to the topic at hand.

The earlier that kids start using the Internet, the earlier the NSA can record everything they do.

Wake up, sheeple :D

"One hundred million dollars..."

The problem we have right now is too many students doing poorly in grade school and too many people picking dumb majors when they go to university. In what way does this solve either problem?

I'd much rather if we simply:
1 - Raised how much we paid teachers. (This way, the best potential teachers, the people being paid top dollar to go work for private companies, will actually view being a grade school teacher as a worthwhile career. Right now, if you end up with a really good teacher, it's because they're either already content with how much money they made elsewhere and retired, or because they feel so strongly that we need better teachers that they're willing to take the massive pay cut.)
2 - Made it easier to fire teachers that are lousy.
3 - Offered more scholarships for people going into STEM majors. A lot more. School is many times more expensive than the scholarships we're offering right now.

Edit: I can't believe I left this one off. Someone else said it and I'd like to add their comment to my more prominent post:

As the spouse of a teacher for 22 years, I'll add:

4 - Require parents to become more involved. Not necessarily at the school itself, but in their child's education. No matter how much money is spent, how much (or little) teachers are paid, or how many hours the kids spend in school, or how many standardized tests they take, the most consistent and determining factor is the parents.

Edit: Good lord, why are you people supporting this? It wastes money and seems probable that it'll reduce the quality of education we give in public schools, not improve it.

The earlier that kids start using the Internet, the earlier the NSA can record everything they do.

Wake up, sheeple :D

Getting tired of reading this paranoia crap about NSA lately....

get 'em hooked young ;)

It's funny that all these companies are pledging hardware, broadband and real money, yet MS says, well you can use something we've already created that effectively costs us nothing to give.

Then again...they don't have much else to offer. Oh wait, money!

Any opportunity to bash Microsoft, right?

This is great news. It is inexcusable that schools in America still don't have broadband and modern computers. I hope this initiative is successful and has a quick rollout.

The problem we have right now is too many students doing poorly in grade school and too many people picking dumb majors when they go to university. In what way does this solve either problem?

I'd much rather if we simply:
1 - Raised how much we paid teachers. (This way, the best potential teachers, the people being paid top dollar to go work for private companies, will actually view being a grade school teacher as a worthwhile career. Right now, if you end up with a really good teacher, it's because they're either already content with how much money they made elsewhere and retired, or because they feel so strongly that we need better teachers that they're willing to take the massive pay cut.)
2 - Made it easier to fire teachers that are lousy.
3 - Offered more scholarships for people going into STEM majors. A lot more. School is many times more expensive than the scholarships we're offering right now.

Edit: Good lord, why are you people supporting this? It wastes money and seems probable that it'll reduce the quality of education we give in public schools, not improve it.

As the spouse of a teacher for 22 years, I'll add:

4 - Require parents to become more involved. Not necessarily at the school itself, but in their child's education. No matter how much money is spent, how much (or little) teachers are paid, or how many hours the kids spend in school, or how many standardized tests they take, the most consistent and determining factor is the parents.

I know when I was in high school and college, my teachers sucked at utilizing technology for teaching. Does anyone have insight into how teachers are doing these days with technology? Is it helping them teach in more advanced and impacting ways or not?

No. All it does is provide students with more distractions.

That's not to say they're entirely worthless. Students use laptops for research, writing papers, and making slide shows. But they're guaranteed to also use it for gaming, social networking, etc, while in class. And no matter how hard you try to block them, it just takes one of them knowing how to bypass your settings and selling the secret to the rest of them.