It’s a constant battle for schools to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. Though many schools have begun lending laptops to students, some have gone even further, embracing the newest tech gadgetry trend: tablets. Or, more specifically, iPads.
Schools around the country are beginning to adopt the iPad. New York City public schools ordered more than 2,000 iPads, and some 200 Chicago public schools applied for grants to purchase them. Schools in California and Virginia have completely swapped traditional textbooks in certain classes for iPads.
Roslyn High School, on New York’s Long Island, launched a pilot program late last month that gave iPads to the students in two humanities classes. The iPads will be used instead of textbooks, and the students will use the tablets at home and in class.
The district paid $56,250 to buy the 75 iPads, as well as cases and styluses. That dollar figure’s certainly enough to raise some taxpayers’ eyebrows, but the district claims the initial cost of going paperless will eventually save money.
We’ve covered the many ways educators can incorporate tech into schools, and the iPad, though likely more expensive than the standard PCs used in one-to-one computing projects, could certainly prove to be an investment. Physically, the iPad would be more ideal for students to carry in backpacks, weighing just 1.5 lb%2
A new Trojan horse that not only affects Windows, but Mac OS X as well, has appeared on social networking sites (including Facebook), primarily disguised as a video. When users click an infected link along the lines of “Is this you in this video?”, a Java applet downloads multiple files, including an installer that runs automatically without the user’s knowledge. The malware also bypasses the usual password verification OS X requires for installation.
Comcast is working diligently to ensure that the deal to merge its cable networks with the assets of NBC Universal gets regulatory approval, but one concession could have the cable provider introducing low-income families to more web-based content.In the Comcast 12-23-10 Ex Parte released before the holidays, Comcast detailed multiple concessions it discussed with the FCC aimed at convincing the commission that the deal would be in the public interest. The broader concessions are aimed at easing concerns about hyperlocalism, broadband deployment and adoption and public broadcasting and spectrum, but one particular concession — centered around making broadband available for $9.95 a month to low-income households — could open the door for more users to watch web video instead of TV.The $10-a-month broadband plan, which it calls the Comcast Broadband Opportunity Program (CBOP), targets poor households in its footprint. To be eligible for the CBOP, households must have at least one child that qualifies for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which gives free lunches to students whose households have annual incomes of less than 130 percent of the poverty level. In addition to cheap broadband access, the program is also designed to provide subsidized computers to qualifying households and to educate them about using that equipment and Internet access.
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