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

get 'em hooked young

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

Wake up, sheeple

"One hundred million dollars..."

YanniDepp said:

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

Wake up, sheeple

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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.

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.

YanniDepp said:

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

Wake up, sheeple

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

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:

TXCherokee said:

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.

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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.

longofest said:

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.

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The instant it got moved to the PRSI, they pretty much made sure that it wouldn't stick to topic.

Now if we can just get someone to make this kind of investment in our teachers that use the tools and not just in the tools themselves.

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!

FrizzleFryBen said:

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!

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Any opportunity to bash Microsoft, right?

FrizzleFryBen said:

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!

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Knowing me Windows 8 was a huge loss and they need to recoup somehow. Then again nobody would even take Windows 8 for free.

BvizioN said:

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

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Then dont read it. Simple solution.

FrizzleFryBen said:

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!

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Yes, Microsoft Office cost them nothing to create. I guess Apples contribution is worthless because they already made those iPads and computers and it "costs them nothing to give"

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?

iMerik said:

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?

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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.

I think a bigger point is this: "John Thompson, former CEO of Symantec, will assume the role of Board Chairman". It seems like everything Symantec touches they ruin. Hope that culture doesn't come to MS.

longofest said:

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.

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I agree that NSA bashing is not needed here, but I also think that a simple donation of a bunch of iPads is not so easy. How will security be dealt with? Are they going to place filters, firewalls, etc to ensure that our children can indeed get the best that technology can offer, but in a safe environment where we keep the creeps out that might try to take advantage of our youth.

This is a great idea... get them hooked when they're young... keeps them locked in for life.

Apple could do so much in this area.

Even if they just donated a few percent of their cash we're talking about billions.

Imagine Apple giving every state Apple products worth 100 million $.

That's 5 billion that wouldn't make a dent in Apple's cash pile and would so so much for America's education system.

But it's Apple's cash, so they can do as they please.

Samsung should be able to promise it's hundred of millions of "SHIPPED" units...we all know those never "SOLD"

ArtOfWarfare said:

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.

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At my high school people figured out the Wi-Fi passwords, used some proxies to access YouTube, FaceBook, etc...

Kids are creative these days.

Cuban Missles said:

... I also think that a simple donation of a bunch of iPads is not so easy. How will security be dealt with? Are they going to place filters, firewalls, etc to ensure that our children can indeed get the best that technology can offer, but in a safe environment where we keep the creeps out that might try to take advantage of our youth.

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That is generally dealt with by the school districts and also at the network level, not necessarily the device level (though Apple provides a configurator tool to lock down the device).

osx11 said:

Apple could do so much in this area.

Even if they just donated a few percent of their cash we're talking about billions.

Imagine Apple giving every state Apple products worth 100 million $.

That's 5 billion that wouldn't make a dent in Apple's cash pile and would so so much for America's education system.

But it's Apple's cash, so they can do as they please.

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Lol help people? People/companies only do so much for TAX BREAKS, nothing else. The "good" publicity is just a bonus for their reputation...