The much-awaited plan to bring netbooks to EVSC high school students in Evansville, Indiana went underway today. The plan offers the netbooks to kids at a subsidized by-the-semester price, and the machines will be used in class to augment students' learning.
The students can bring their netbooks to and from school, though they'll need to buy the netbooks if they're broken or lost.
Some are up in arms about the netbooks' use in schools. Why? Despite safeguards implemented by the school board, some think kids will find a way around site blocks and sit around on Facebook during class.
Shannon Hamilton, one of several IT support staffers setting up the netbook service, noted a benefit that outweighs that risk to many supporters of the program.
"A lot of times teachers would have to wait for a computer lab to open up… This gives them a whole classroom full of computers."
Each EVSC school has a specially hired coach for helping teachers use the netbooks effectively. If the plan is deemed successful, other US schools could take a page from EVSC's book and implement their own student netbook plans, as has been done in Australia.
Via 14WFIE.
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