Saving Our Schools, One Macaroni Noodle at a Time

     In class this past Thursday, we watched a video of a young man and his proposed solution to a broken school system. His idea is to replace textbooks, copy machines, paper and pencils, etc., with iTouches. The apps already available as well as a few more geared specifically towards classrooms and teachers, he terms the iSchool. He suggests that the amount schools could save by cutting the things that could be replaced by the iSchool would save our schools. More money would be available for programs that are currently being cut and more teachers could be hired, reducing classroom size and allowing for more personal interaction. According to his math, schools are currently spending about $600/student, while an iTouch would only cost about $150/student.
     I found this a compelling argument, and his movement is gaining political support. From the technology angle, I think that incorporating things like an iTouch or iPad into everyday use by students is a great way to start making learning real for the students. Technology like that is something they're growing up on and will use in the world outside the school building. Being able to manipulate it is a useful skill.
     However, I'm always a little unconvinced when it comes to such integrated technology in younger classrooms like preschool and kindergarten. I may be a little nostalgic, but I believe kids that young should be creating things and gluing macaroni to themselves and learning to write with pencils and drawing with crayons and using blocks and other touchable, movable things to learn. I wouldn't want them doing everything on an iTouch or iPad. They need to learn to do things outside of the technology before learning how to use the technology.