The concept of consumerization is gaining momentum in many organizations today. Bringing consumer devices to work promises to change the way we work, learn and live. The potential exists for this to be among the biggest technology shifts of our lifetime. As great as this trend seems, I'm not sure if we've taken the time to ask, can this shift be taken too far and what are the potential risks involved?
The local school system in the Massachusetts town where I live, the Ashburnham-Westminster school district, may have gone too far and too fast. The school district is proposing a mandate that all students coming into Kindergarten next year must have an iPad and bring it to school daily. Not high school or middle school or even older elementary school kids, but only kindergartners. That's right, the same kindergartners that are learning how to line up will bring tablets to school. Not any generic tablet either, specifically Apple iPads, the Cadillac of tablets.
The school district had been facing a number of issues that it feels would be addressed with an iPad program. Specifically:
* The school district has been unable to provide adequate technology at the early school levels.
* The Massachusetts Department of Education is recommending that schools adopt a one-to-one computer program for schools.
* The school district has found keeping technology up to date and available to all students increasingly difficult.
* The school district believes that integrating technology into the lives of the students can only be reached when the ratio of computers per student reaches one to one.
Couple these challenges with the fact that kids now use all kinds of technology outside of the school at younger and younger ages, and it seems something needs to change. I think it's fair to say that most students feel that technology is much better at home than at school (workers say this quite often too). Enter the iPad program.
The program would work one of three ways:
* The parent could buy an iPad for the student
* Parents can enter a 2-year lease program, paying $50 up front for insurance and then $25 per month for two years with a $1 buy out at the end. ($651 over two years)
* If the parents cannot afford either option, the school district is working on a plan to accommodate but there are no details yet.
On paper (or I should say on glass), this makes a lot of sense. Students are using technology more and more anyway, so why not make the tablet an integrated part of the educational curriculum? The reason the Ashburnham-Westminster schools wants to start with Kindergarten is that these students will never know life without a computer. Additionally, parents tend to be most involved with Kindergarten since it’s the first year of school for most kids. Seems to make sense--again on paper.
NEXT PAGE: Interview with a concerned parent
I had a chance to interview a concerned parent, Meredith Fagan, and she expressed to me a number of concerns that did make me reconsider. There are a number of issues that should be addressed before such a plan is put into place. Here are the questions that remain unanswered:
* The school district did not show any evidence that using a tablet or computer at that young an age would improve literacy. Why does the school feel it will?
* These are very young children and the ability to be distracted on a multifunction device is high. Will the students use the tablets as planned for all assignments or is the temptation of distraction too high?
* The school district couldn't actually tell the parents what activities the iPad would be used for. The only thing the district could share is that it would be used for about 20 minutes per day.
* Kindergarten kids are five years old. Many of them need to learn the basics of interacting with others, like sharing, so will they really understand how to use this for learning purposes?
* Currently students are not allowed to bring technology on the buses (cell phones, ipods, etc). Will there be an exception to this rule?
* If there are a few children from low-income households that cannot afford an iPad, will there be any social pressure brought to those kids?
* What about theft from older kids? It's well documented that some kids are beat up for their Air Jordans. We’re talking about iPads here. How will the school protect five year olds from bullies taking them?
* What happens if a five year old breaks an iPad? Who is responsible for repair?
* Who pays for the apps that run on them? The district indicated there were many free educational applications but will those be the only ones used?
* Will there be a way for checking for inappropriate content? Many of the students have older siblings. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that a jealous older brother or sister wouldn’t go to YouTube and have an offensive video queued up as a joke.
Personally, I like the idea of integrating technology into the student's lives. In fact, my kids who are all well above the kindergarten age level were a bit envious over this. However, I do think this is opening up a huge can of worms that I hope the school system is ready to deal with.
Ashburnham-Westminster may reach its desired goal of having one computer per student but may find that the old adage of "be careful what you wish for because you might get it" comes back to bite them in the end.
